Free Agent point guard Kyle Lowry has agreed to return to the Toronto Raptors on a massive, four-year, $48 million contract. An early-termination player option will be included following the third year of the deal.
The 28-year-old Lowry, who was easily the best point guard on the NBA free agent market, has spent the last two seasons in Toronto, and had a career year in 2013-2014. En route to leading the Raptors to their first playoff appearance since 2008, Lowry averaged 17.9 points, 7.4 assists, and 4.7 rebounds per game. He was also tremendous from long-range, shooting 38 percent from downtown. Toronto won a franchise record 48 games last year, and finished third in the NBA’s Eastern Conference before narrowly losing to the Brooklyn Nets in a seven game first round playoff series.
Toronto Raptors management had been insistent in their desire to bring Kyle Lowry back leading into the off-season, and team general manager Masai Ujiri wasted no time in making sure that happened, fending off other potential suitors such as the Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, and Miami Heat.
Kyle Lowry took to instagram shortly after news of the signing broke, posting a picture of himself in an old-school Raptors jersey.
With Lowry, NBA All-Star shooting guard Demar DeRozan, and developing big man Jonas Valanciunas, the Raptors appear to have a solid core going forward. It will be up to Ujiri to continue adding to that core, and up to head coach Dwayne Casey to develop talents like Terrance Ross in order to help the Raptors take the next step forward in the coming years.
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