Raptors Fans Need Not Fear Kyle Lowry’s Impending Decision To Opt Out

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After bouncing around the league during the early portion of his career, Kyle Lowry appears to have found a home in Toronto. Lowry landed in Toronto in 2012 with hopes of churning his grizzled talent into sustained success. Playing next to Demar DeRozan, Lowry found personal and team success in Toronto over the course of four seasons.

Last season he led the Raptors to their best season in team history and pushed the Cavaliers to a Game 6 in the eastern conference finals. Coming off a successful playoff push and an olympic gold medal, Lowry is looking forward to converting that success into dollar signs. He told The Vertical that he will opt out of his contract after this season, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be leaving Toronto.

“If you’re that franchise’s guy, and you’re the guy that they’ve been rolling with, and you’ve given that franchise everything you have, yeah, I think [the talks] should be easy,” Lowry told The Vertical. “I think it should be a situation where a guy shouldn’t have to talk to another team. DeMar didn’t have the chance to talk to another team. …

“For me, I think that at 12:01 a.m. on July 1 – something should be close. If not, I’m open to seeing what else is out there.”

With the rising salary cap, Lowry could be one of the highest paid players in the league next season if the Raptors offer him a max deal. It doesn’t sound like Lowry has any interest in leaving a stable situation like Toronto, but negations can always go haywire when annual salary numbers start going north of $30 million. Outside of something erratic occurring during the season, Lowry should be a Raptor for years to come. He slimmed down to carry a larger load last season, but he’ll regain that weight in gold next summer.

(The Vertical)

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