What is Kyle Lowry Worth in Free Agency?
/I'll touch on how dominant the Warriors and Cavs have looked in the playoffs so far in a day or 2. Today, I want to talk about Kyle Lowry and his pending free agency.
First off, I have to state that I'm a Kyle Lowry fan. I like his game a lot, and I feel like he's an intense dude. I needed to say this because what I'm about to write might sound like I don't think he's a great player. He's a very, very good player.
With that being said, I do not think the market is going to be as open to him as he and his agent may think it will, or even should be. He will not be in that high demand. While he is a great regular season player, he has choked time and time again in the playoffs. His numbers dip dramatically during the playoffs. Teams that are perennial playoff teams probably won't go out of their way to sign him. The only regular in the playoffs that might try to sign him is his current team, the Raptors. I don't see someone like the Spurs, Thunder or even the Rockets trying to get him. I only named Western Conference teams because he's said he wants to go out West.
The only team on that list that truly needs a point guard is the Spurs, but the Chris Paul rumors keep getting stronger and stronger, and even though he's 4 years older, I'd rather have Paul than Lowry. Both are playoff chokers, but Paul's fate is more about the team and Lowry's is all on him. The Thunder have Westbrook and the Rockets have Harden and Patrick Beverly. Any other West playoff team is set at guard. The Warriors have Steph, Klay and Draymond. The Blazers have McCollum and Lillard. The Grizzlies have Conley. And teams just on the outside, like the T'Wolves and Nuggets have Wiggins, Rubio, Dunn, Mudiay and Murray. They also each have high draft choices in a draft filled with guards.
The market in the East isn't much better. The Cavs have Kyrie and LeBron. The Celtics have Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart, just a plethora of guards. The Wizards have Wall and Beal. Even the Pacers have a guy like Jeff Teague. The East playoff teams, save for Toronto, are set at guard.
Another problem, Kyle Lowry is also hitting the free agent market at 31. That's old in the NBA. He is well past his prime, especially with the awful "one and done" culture taking over. I do not hear a high demand to give a big contract, especially the max, to a guy that may only have 2 or 3 more years left.
Lowry would be best, if it's all about the money, to just go back home and play for the 76ers. He's from the Philadelphia area and played his college basketball at Villanova. That makes the most sense. It's the very low rent version of going home, a la LeBron 3 years ago. He would be given a hero's welcome if he signed with the 76ers. He'd even make them semi competitive, if Embiid can stay healthy for half a season.
If he doesn't want to play for Philadelphia, his choices will be slim. He can sign for much less money, and a diminished role, if he wants to go to a contender. If he wants the big contract, it has to be a team like the 76ers, or another low rent team. He could go to Orlando or the Lakers, the Knicks or even the Suns. They'll give him the money, but the playoffs will be a distant memory.
I wish Kyle Lowry would've performed better in the playoffs this year, it would make his free agency much more interesting this summer, but he did what he has done his whole career. That will be his undoing. I hope he does well, as I stated, I'm a fan, but his best days, and being the second option on a good team are done. He's older, slower and not clutch. That's the bottom line.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.
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