It was a relief, right? To a lot of Toronto Raptors fans, keeping Kyle Lowry was a relief. It may have been the wrong move in the bigger picture: the team is still catching its breath after a COVID outbreak, and had already traded a reliable wing scorer in Norm Powell, and wasn’t deep enough before that. Two years after the title, the party is over.
The Raptors had the 25th-best record in the league, and Lowry is going to be a free agent this summer, and Thursday he turned 35. It was probably time to say goodbye.