Kyle Lowry Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Lowry, Tsai, Sixers, J. Brown

August 16th, 2019 at 10:20am CST by Luke Adams

Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry, who is entering the final year of his contract, suggested last week that he’d love to remain in Toronto beyond the 2019/20 season and would have interest in signing an extension with the team. However, Eric Koreen of The Athletic believes it’s unlikely that Lowry and the Raptors will find common ground on a new deal before he reaches free agency next summer.

As Koreen explains, Lowry projects to be one of the very best free agents on the market next offseason, particularly if Anthony Davis re-ups with the Lakers. He’s also a five-time All-Star who just helped lead the Raptors to a championship. In other words, he’ll likely be expecting another big payday.

On the other hand, the Raptors are entering a transition year and are still trying to figure out what their post-Kawhi Leonard future might look like. With barely any guaranteed money on the books for next season, Toronto may prefer to maintain its flexibility rather than entering into a new agreement with Lowry right away.

Plus, with Lowry set to turn 34 during the 2019/20 season, it’s not clear how heavily the Raptors would be willing to invest in him going forward. While a contract extension is still a possibility, Koreen wouldn’t be surprised if those discussions are “put on hold for a while.”

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

With the Nets swapping one wealthy foreign owner for another, Brian Lewis of The New York Post suggests that the team’s willingness to spend won’t change much as Joseph Tsai takes the reins from Mikhail Prokhorov. However, Lewis expects Tsai to be far more visible around the Nets and the NBA than Prokhorov had been in recent years.
In his latest mailbag for The Athletic, Derek Bodner explores the likelihood of the Sixers bringing draft-and-stash prospect Vasilije Micic stateside at some point, weighs the team’s ability to make another big splash on the trade market, and addresses a handful of other 76ers-related topics.
After being a full-time starter for the Celtics in 2017/18, Jaylen Brown started just 25 of his 74 contests last season and saw his playing time reduced by nearly five minutes per game. Appearing on this week’s episode of The Michael Holley Podcast, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge praised Brown for the way he responded. “He might have handled a difficult situation better than anybody on our team last year,” Ainge said (per Dave Green of NBC Sports Boston). “Very mature kid, wants to be great, knows that his time is coming.”

And-Ones: Extension Deadlines, Team USA Scrimmages, James

August 12th, 2019 at 8:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The deadline for players to sign rookie extensions prior to opening night this upcoming season is Monday, October 21 at 6 p.m. ET, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN. That group of 18 eligible players includes Pascal Siakam, Brandon Ingram and Jaylen Brown.

The extension deadline is the same for a veteran with multiple years remaining on his contract who has met certain criteria, including All-Star guard Bradley Beal. Players with one year left (including a player option) have until June 30, 2020 to sign an extension.

Regular season rosters will also be set on October 21, while Saturday, October 19 will be the last day a team can waive a player with a non-guaranteed contract and not incur a cap hit, Marks adds (Twitter links here).

We have more from the basketball world:

The USA Basketball World Cup team will scrimmage against a collection of G League and fringe NBA players over the next three days, Jonathan Givony of ESPN tweets. There are 15 players remaining on the USA roster with Monday’s withdrawal by Kyle Lowry and 12 will make the final roster that will compete in the FIBA tournament in China. The group they’ll scrimmage will be called the L.A. Select Team and be coached by Jeff Van Gundy. That team will include players who participated in FIBA qualifiers, including Scotty Hopson, Chasson Randle and Ben Moore, Givony adds in another tweet.
Former Suns and Pelicans guard Mike James has signed with CSKA Moscow, according to a tweet from the team. James played a total of 36 NBA games in 2017/18, averaging 9.3 PPG and 3.5 APG in 19.1 MPG. James appeared in 30 Euro League games with Olimpia Milano last season, averaging a league-high 19.8 PPG and 6.8 APG. James and the Italian team mutually parted ways late last month.
The NBA released 2019/20 season schedules for every team on Monday. You can find them here.

Kyle Lowry Withdraws From USA World Cup Squad

August 12th, 2019 at 4:48pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry has withdrawn from the USA Basketball World Cup team, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

While many withdrawals prior to training camp were due to players focusing on their NBA season, Lowry has a legitimate injury excuse. He underwent thumb surgery last month, as Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports notes (Twitter link), and hasn’t been cleared to resume basketball activity.

Lowry might have been cleared prior to the tournament but has to be careful since he’ll be an unrestricted free agent next summer. He told the media during Team USA’s camp that he’d love to sign an extension prior to free agency.

Lowry was a member of the 2016 USA Olympic team and hopes to make the final roster for the 2020 squad, Wojnarowski adds in another tweet.

Lowry dealt with the thumb issue much of the postseason but was still productive during the championship run, posting averages of 15.0 PPG, 6.6 APG, and 4.9 RPG with a .439/.359/.802 shooting line in 24 playoff contests.

Team USA has some depth at the point guard spot despite Lowry’s defection. Kemba Walker will likely get the bulk of the minutes while De’Aaron Fox and combo guards Donovan Mitchell and Marcus Smart could also run the offense. The FIBA tournament begins next month in China.

Kyle Lowry Would “Love” Extension With Raptors

August 6th, 2019 at 8:50am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA champion Raptors had two All-Stars on last season’s roster. One – Kawhi Leonard – has since left for Los Angeles and will play for the Clippers in 2019/20. However, the other – Kyle Lowry – told reporters on Monday at USA Basketball’s World Cup training camp that he hopes to remain in Toronto going forward.

“I want to be there,” Lowry said, per Chris Mannix of SI.com. “I would love to do an extension, but we’ll see what happens … I would love to be there long-term. We’ll have the discussion when the time is right.”

Lowry, who is entering the final year of his current contract, became eligible for an extension last month. Veterans who sign three- or four-year deals can ink extensions after the two-year anniversary of their signing — Lowry finalized his current contract on July 7, 2017.

There has been no indication yet that the Raptors have discussed a new contract with Lowry this offseason or plan to do so before the season begins. Lowry’s $35MM expiring salary is one of several that the team will have off its books next summer, along with Marc Gasol ($25.6MM), Serge Ibaka ($23.3MM), and Fred VanVleet ($9.3MM). To maximize flexibility, Toronto may want to keep its 2020/21 cap sheet as clean as possible for now.

Still, if the price is right, I expect the Raptors to be open to extending their relationship with their starting point guard. Another $100MM commitment seems unlikely, but Lowry was one of the club’s most important players last season and remains productive at age 33.

As for the departure of the Raptors’ Finals MVP, Lowry conveyed no disappointment or frustration with Leonard’s decision. As Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com details, Lowry said he told his teammate, “I’m happy for you” when he heard the news of Kawhi’s move to the Clippers.

“I am happy for the guys that … especially a guy that helped do something fantastic and something great,” Lowry said. “He’s an unbelievable friend of mine and is a good guy. He made a decision to go home and he is happy with that and I am happy for him. Truly. I am genuinely happy for him. It gives him a chance to be around his family and friends. You got to respect the guy and be happy for him.”

Kevin Love Expected To Withdraw From World Cup; Kyle Lowry To Remain

July 24th, 2019 at 10:29am CST by Arthur Hill

Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love is expected to be the next NBA star to pull his name out of consideration for the FIBA World Cup, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry remains committed to play despite recent thumb surgery, Charania adds. Lowry is still recovering from the procedure to repair a tendon injury, but he is expected to be ready for action midway through training camp.

Love battled his own injuries last season, being limited to 22 games because of toe surgery. He remained at his normal level when he played, averaging 17.0 points and 10.9 rebounds for the season.

Love would be the eighth Team USA player to decide against participating in the World Cup since the original list of invitees was announced. Damian Lillard and DeMar DeRozan both announced yesterday that they won’t be part of the team, joining Anthony Davis, James Harden, Bradley Beal, CJ McCollum and Eric Gordon.

Charania notes that their absence will provide greater opportunity for young players such as Donovan Mitchell, De’Aaron Fox, Jayson Tatum, Kyle Kuzma and Myles Turner, along with lower-profile veterans like Lowry, P.J. Tucker and Thaddeus Young (Twitter link).

A source tells Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News that there’s “no question” Kuzma will participate in the camp (Twitter link).

Atlantic Notes: Horford, Lowry, Raptors, Portis, Knicks

July 22nd, 2019 at 9:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Sixers power forward Al Horford shot down an ESPN report that his new team was guilty of tampering prior to free agency. He addressed the issue on the Dan Patrick Show (hat tip to NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg). Horford declined his team option with the Celtics and signed a four-year, $109MM contract with Philadelphia. “It’s ridiculous. … (Celtics GM) Danny [Ainge] was really good to me. I know he’s definitely frustrated that things didn’t work out with us,” Horford said.

We have more from around the Atlantic Division:

Heading into unrestricted free agency next summer, Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry has hired Priority Sports — headed by longtime agent Mark Bartelstein — to represent him, according to a Priority Sports tweet. Lowry signed a three-year deal worth up to $100MM in 2017. His previous reps were Gerard Darnes Soms, Andrew Miller and Juan Aisa, according to Spotrac.
The Raptors used their $3.623MM bi-annual exception to sign forward Stanley Johnson, according to Blake Murphy of The Athletic. The $9.26MM mid-level was split up among Patrick McCaw, Matt Thomas, second-round pick Dewan Hernandez and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who received $2.5MM rather than the veteran’s minimum. McCaw signed a two-year, $8MM deal while Thomas and Hernandez received partially-guaranteed three-year contracts.
Power forward Bobby Portis believes the players the Knicks brought in are a hungry group ready to overachieve, as he told Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype. Portis joined the team on a two-year, $31MM deal, though only the first year is guaranteed. “I love being underrated, man. I’m an underdog,” he said. “I say that every day. We’re the team that’s being counted out right now. People are looking past us. They’re talking about stars going to new teams and this and that, and that’s okay. Everybody on this team has a huge chip on their shoulder.”
After striking out on the big free agents this summer, the Knicks will have to exercise patience and come up with a better plan to lure top talent, Steve Popper of Newsday opines.

Kyle Lowry Undergoes Procedure On Injured Thumb

July 18th, 2019 at 11:15am CST by Luke Adams

Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry has undergone a procedure to repair a tendon injury in his left thumb, a league source tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

According to Wojnarowski, the recovery process isn’t expected to be particularly lengthy — Lowry is hoping to be ready to participate in Team USA’s training camp next month and the 2019 FIBA World Cup in September.

As Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca notes (via Twitter), Lowry dealt with the thumb issue for most of the postseason and had a hard time gripping the ball with his left hand. The 33-year-old was always expected to address the injury – which was reported during the NBA Finals as a ligament tear – during the offseason.

Despite battling the thumb injury, Lowry helped lead the Raptors to their first-ever championship, averaging 15.0 PPG, 6.6 APG, and 4.9 RPG with a .439/.359/.802 shooting line in 24 playoff contests. He’ll enter a contract year in 2019/20 before becoming eligible for unrestricted free agency next summer.

Raptors Rumors: Kawhi, Lowry, Gasol, Ibaka, Green

July 10th, 2019 at 9:52am CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors were confident entering free agency about their chances to re-sign NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, but that confidence began to waver after they met with Leonard and his uncle Dennis Robertson in Toronto last Wednesday, sources tell Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca.

According to Lewenberg, Leonard and his camp asked for a lot from the Raptors during that meeting — “things players don’t generally ask for in standard contract negotiations,” writes Lewenberg. One of Lewenberg’s sources describes those requests as “unreasonable,” suggesting that Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri wouldn’t have been able to meet them all even if he’d wanted to.

The requests caused the Raptors to question whether Leonard was seriously considering them at all, according to Lewenberg. A belief that Kawhi was eyeing the Clippers all along prompted the Raptors to not get too invested in potential trade discussions with the Thunder. Lewenberg suggests that those preliminary talks included Paul George, but not Russell Westbrook, and didn’t even reach the team’s highest-ranking executives.

Within his own look at the Leonard situation, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca conveys many of the same sentiments that Lewenberg did. According to Grange, as Leonard’s requests became more difficult to meet and communication became less constant, it became more clear that the Raptors weren’t his top priority, as one person close to the talks described it.

Grange adds that the Raptors’ contact with the Thunder in the hours leading up to Leonard’s announcement “may have been somewhat exaggerated.” Toronto tapped out fairly early once it was evident OKC was using talks with the Raptors as leverage.

Here’s more on the Raptors:

One Clippers official who spoke to Grange was relieved that his team was still able to land Kawhi after the success he enjoyed in Toronto in 2018/19: “The Raptors did everything right. We saw the parade, saw those pictures and figured that was it. We were done.”
Speaking to reporters, including Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun, Ujiri suggested on Tuesday that he’s not exactly reeling from losing Leonard: “I think we got a great deal out of this. We won a championship, so we’re happy. And, honestly, it’s on to the next. This is the NBA and this is how it works. You can’t hide under the table and cry. Honestly, I’ve lost no sleep, I’m not disappointed. It’s on to what’s next. I’m telling Raptors fans and everybody, don’t lose one day of sleep, one second of sleep. We’re going to be just fine. We’re going to be alright.”
Don’t expect the next steps for the Raptors to involve an immediate tear-down. Sources tell Lewenberg that the team has no intention of moving veterans on expiring contracts – such as Kyle Lowry, Marc Gasol, and Serge Ibaka – before the season. Of course, it’s possible that stance could change by the trade deadline if the Raps don’t have a great first half.
While there was a belief that Danny Green would lean toward re-signing with the Raptors and trying to defend their title if Leonard returned, that may not have been the case after all. According to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (via Twitter), Green told the Mavericks that he wouldn’t be returning to Toronto, and his choice came down to the Lakers vs. the Mavs.

Kawhi Leonard Fallout: Clippers, Lakers, Raptors

July 6th, 2019 at 10:55am CST by Luke Adams

After reaching deals late on Friday night to add Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to their roster, the Clippers are the new favorites to win the 2019 NBA title, according to the oddsmakers at BetOnline.ag. Unlike in recent years – when Golden State was the overwhelming frontrunner – the Clippers are only currently a slight favorite over the Lakers and Bucks, but it’s still a remarkable turnaround for a team that looked 24 hours ago as if it might strike out entirely in free agency.

The acquisitions of Leonard and George show how far the Clippers have come this decade, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, who says the organization has “arrived” as a premier destination for star players.

Meanwhile, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets that Leonard and his camp found it “comical” that every report this week claiming to have identified Kawhi’s likely destination mentioned the Raptors or Lakers, but never the Clippers. While it’s not clear if the Clippers were always his No. 1 choice, Leonard reportedly worked hard this week to try to get George to join him in Los Angeles, as we detail in our round-up of PG13-related items.

Here are several more Kawh-related notes related to the two suitors that missed out on Leonard:

Lakers:

As of about two hours before Leonard chose the Clippers on Friday night, his camp was asking the Lakers to delay the Anthony Davis trade until late Saturday or Sunday, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, who tweets that no specific reason was given.
If Leonard had signed with the Lakers, he would have had to do so before the Davis trade was formally completed in order to maximize his earnings, since the AD deal would’ve cut into the Lakers’ cap room. So it’s possible he was leaving a Plan B available if the Clippers were unable to acquire George — for what it’s worth, the Clippers reportedly believed Kawhi would join the Lakers if they didn’t trade for PG13.
It didn’t help the Lakers’ cause that a ton of specific details about Magic Johnson‘s meeting with Leonard leaked to the media, tweets Cris Carter of Fox Sports 1. I doubt that was a deciding factor for Leonard and his camp, but Carter is plugged-in with Kawhi’s group, so if he’s hearing it, it seems likely to be coming from them.
Losing the waiting game for Leonard was a worst-case scenario for the Lakers, who missed out on a handful of potential targets during the first week of free agency as they pursued Kawhi, writes Bill Oram of The Athletic. The team has since pivoted by reaching deals with Danny Green, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, JaVale McGee, and Quinn Cook.

Raptors:

Leonard told his Raptors teammates via text message that he was leaving just as the news was breaking late on Friday night, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link).
Losing Leonard – and starting shooting guard Danny Green – sets the Raptors on a new path, according to Blake Murphy of The Athletic, who explores what’s next for the franchise. While there will be calls to blow things up, Murphy suggests that the current Raptors should still be a playoff team, adding that Toronto may be reluctant to take on unwanted multiyear contracts in any trades, given how much money will come off its cap in 2020.
Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link) speculates that the Raptors will explore potential trades of their veterans on expiring contracts – such as Kyle Lowry, Marc Gasol, and Serge Ibaka – as they look ahead to building around young players like Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet.
Eric Koreen of The Athletic acknowledges that Masai Ujiri will likely gauge the value of his veterans on the trade market, but agrees with Murphy that the Raptors are more likely to keep their roster more or less intact in a transition year.

Team USA Announces 20-Player Camp Roster For World Cup

June 10th, 2019 at 10:22am CST by Luke Adams

USA Basketball has officially announced the group of 20 players that will participate in training camp this summer in advance of the 2019 FIBA World Cup. The camp will take place from August 5-9, and will be used to select the 12-man roster for this year’s World Cup in China.

The 20-man training camp roster is as follows:

Harrison Barnes (Kings)
Bradley Beal (Wizards)
Anthony Davis (Pelicans)
Andre Drummond (Pistons)
Eric Gordon (Rockets)
James Harden (Rockets)
Tobias Harris (Sixers / FA)
Kyle Kuzma (Lakers)
Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers)
Brook Lopez (Bucks / FA)
Kevin Love (Cavaliers)
Kyle Lowry (Raptors)
CJ McCollum (Trail Blazers)
Khris Middleton (Bucks)
Paul Millsap (Nuggets)
Donovan Mitchell (Jazz)
Jayson Tatum (Celtics)
Myles Turner (Pacers)
P.J. Tucker (Rockets)
Kemba Walker (Hornets / FA)

“I am excited about getting to training camp in August and working with all of the players that have been selected to attend the USA National Team training camp in Las Vegas,” Team USA head coach Gregg Popovich said in a statement. “We’ve got an excellent cross-section of veteran USA Basketball and NBA players, as well as some exciting younger players who possess amazing versatility.

“I’m appreciative of commitment that our National Team players continue to make, and the eagerness of the new players to become involved,” Popovich continued. “Selecting a 12-man team will be extremely difficult.”

It will be an eventful summer for many of the players on the 20-man Team USA training camp roster. Besides Harris, Lopez, and Walker, who are all headed for unrestricted free agency and could be on new teams by August, players like Barnes, Middleton, and Millsap could reach the open market if their player or team options are declined. Others – including Davis, Gordon, Kuzma, Tatum, and Tucker – have been mentioned in trade rumors.

Kuzma and Mitchell are the only players on the roster who haven’t played internationally for Team USA in the past. Five player on the roster (Barnes, Davis, Harden, Love, and Lowry) have won gold medals for USA Basketball at the 2012 or 2016 Olympics, while two others (Drummond and Gordon) have taken home gold at previous World Cups.

Previous reports indicated that Zion Williamson, John Collins, and Marvin Bagley are expected to be among the players named to a 10-man select team that will scrimmage with Team USA’s 20-man roster at the training camp in August.