Kyle Lowry will be signing with the Philadelphia 76ers, as reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The guard’s short-lived tenure in Charlotte never saw him play for the Hornets.
Charlotte Hornets G Kyle Lowry has agreed on a contract buyout, clearing the way for him to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers upon clearing waivers, Mark Bartelstein of @PrioritySports tells ESPN. pic.twitter.com/gfGDln0lJ0
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 11, 2024
NBA News: Philadelphia 76ers Signing Kyle Lowry
Lowry This Season
The 37 year-0ld played 37 games for the Miami Heat in 2023-24, starting 35 of them. This season, Lowry is averaging 28 minutes per game, his lowest total since 2007-08. In those minutes, he has averaged 8.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, and four assists.
The days of Lowry starting on a contending team may be over, but he can still be a quality backup point guard. The veteran has an abundance of playoff experience, and was a key contributor in the NBA Finals less than a year ago.
In those Finals, Lowry’s Heat succumbed to the Denver Nuggets in five games, but Lowry was a steady presence in the backcourt.
He averaged 10.8 points, 4.8 assists, and four rebounds on 42.3% shooting from three-point range. Furthermore, he logged the second-highest plus-minus totals of any Miami player averaging 25+ minutes in the series.
Lowry Trade
Lowry was traded to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Terry Rozier III.
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke highly of Lowry following the trade, and how tough it was for the organization to part ways with him.
“We all pushed to get Kyle here and it was for a reason…Kyle, you can never define him by stats. His whole career, as an ultimate winner, you define him by whether your team is winning or not and how it’s functioning. The first two years, the resume speaks for itself…As a human being, I’ve gotten to know him a long time before we got him…I just really respect him and enjoy him as a human being. I’ll miss that. This is part of the business. You come to really develop some strong relationships with people and sometimes you have to make a business decision and that’s what this was.”
76ers Season Outlook
The former Villanova man will now join a 76ers team that will be without Joel Embiid for the foreseeable future.
Embiid suffered a meniscus injury on January 30th against the Golden State Warriors. The reigning MVP recently underwent surgery, and will be re-evaluated in four weeks.
Philadelphia is optimistic that their franchise player can return to action this season, and operated as such at the deadline. 76ers team president Daryl Morey had this to say following the trade deadline.
“[We’re] always planning for the future. If the hope wasn’t there for Joel, I think it would’ve changed things dramatically. We’re very hopeful…I don’t wanna give it a scale. We’re hopeful. Feedback has been more good than bad since the first we heard about what led to his procedure so we’re hopeful and we’re building the team to make it better this year.”
Cameron Payne and Buddy Hield are two big acquisitions that, along with Lowry, will help the 76ers hold down the fort while Embiid recovers.
