Heat, 76ers viewed as favorites to trade for Raptors' Kyle Lowry

It is increasingly looking like Kyle Lowry will not be a member of the Toronto Raptors once the NBA trade deadline comes and goes on March 25.

The 34-year-old is in the midst of a very solid campaign, but Toronto is looking to enter a rebuilding phase.

As such, Lowry and his one-year, $30.5 million deal don’t really have a place in the Raptors’ future.

A few weeks back, Lowry quietly started admitting to people close to him that he was likely getting traded.

At this point there seem to be two clear front-runners for his services.

Both the Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat are said to be extremely interested in adding Lowry.

According to ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, “Philadelphia and Miami have engaged Toronto on Lowry, and league sources said there are several more teams in both the Eastern and Western Conferences giving Toronto president Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster reason to weigh the possibility of accepting a return of future assets instead of leaning on Lowry for one final playoff run.”

At this point, it’s a matter of how much the Sixers and Heat are willing to give up.

“Raptors discussing Kyle Lowry and Norman Powell deals on multiple fronts and those talks are expected to extend into Wednesday — and perhaps even Thursday. Philadelphia, Miami are interested in Lowry, but both have shown restraint in how far they’ll go to get a deal,” Wojnarowski later tweeted.

Lowry is averaging 18 points, 7.4 assists and 5.7 rebounds while shooting 40% from three this year. He’d be an immediate upgrade for any other Eastern Conference contender that trades for him.

If the Raptors decide they don’t want to move Lowry to a competitor in the East, one extremely viable option exists in the Western Conference too.

Lowry has been a member of the Raptors since 2012 and helped lead the franchise to its lone championship back in 2019. Him moving on will truly be the end of an era in Toronto.