Although he ultimately re-signed with the Raptors when he reached free agency in July this past offseason, veteran point guard Kyle Lowry admits that he had some interest in joining the Spurs, as Jabari Young of The San Antonio Express-News details. However, Lowry said today that San Antonio didn’t necessarily reciprocate that interest.
“It was real for me, but it wasn’t real for them,” Lowry told Young. “That’s a part of the business that people don’t know. I would have loved to come here (to San Antonio), but it didn’t work out. The conversation didn’t happen. If the conversation happened, I would tell you. But it didn’t happen.
“Not saying that I wanted out, but I did look at teams to see what was going on,” Lowry added. “I mean this place would’ve been a great place.”
At one point, it looked like the Spurs might make an effort to clear cap room to make a run at Chris Paul. However, when Paul decided to join the Rockets, San Antonio didn’t go after another top free agent point guard, opting to re-sign Patty Mills instead.
As for the Raptors, they lost multiple free agents over the summer, including forwards P.J. Tucker and Patrick Patterson, but made strong commitments to Lowry and Serge Ibaka, signing each player to a three-year contract. Lowry’s new deal with Toronto will pay him at least $31MM annually, and could be worth up to $100MM with incentives.
Although Lowry was intrigued by the idea of playing for Gregg Popovich, whom he calls “one of the best coaches in NBA history,” the point guard told Young that he’s pleased with the way things worked out.
“I knew the (Spurs’) culture, but at the end of the day I came back to a situation that was best for me that I loved and (I’m) happy to be in,” Lowry said.