Toronto Raptors Rumors: Kyle Lowry Opts Out, Will Consider Moving West
Well, it didn't take long. Kyle Lowry has officially announced that he's opting out of the final year of his contract to test the free-agent market this offseason.
Everybody expected him to opt out, so this wasn't really a surprise. However, ESPN's Marc Stein said he has heard that Lowry was seriously considering moving to the Western Conference. The Toronto Raptors were swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round of the playoffs.
Right now, LeBron James is showing no signs of slowing down, so a move out of the Eastern Conference may not be a bad idea if Lowry wants to chase a ring. He's not getting any younger and the window of opportunity to win a title can close quickly.
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Does he want to continue playing for the Raptors? A lot of observers, including Yahoo Sports' Ben Rohrbach, think so.
FOX Sports' Dieter Kurtenbach has even speculated that Lowry's agent was behind the rumor and he did this in order to force the Raptors to offer Lowry the max.
"The likelihood is that this scuttlebutt is the byproduct of Lowry's agent doing his job," Kurtenbach said in his report.
"By hinting that Lowry might leave Toronto, the point guard's agent is creating a marketplace and forcing Ujiri and the Raptors to offer his client the full max — five years, $204 million — lest Toronto lose its best player for being cheap," he continued.
"But just because the Raptors are likely to go all-in on Lowry doesn't mean that Lowry has to accept Toronto's offer. And if they don't go all-in, then he should be as good as gone," he added.
The Raptors can offer Lowry the most money this summer, but they will have to decide if they are willing to give a 31-year-old point guard a five-year max contract that will pay him roughly $200 million.
