Free Agent Kyle Lowry Seeks Championship

At 28 years old, Kyle Lowry wants to compete for a championship. He has only been to the postseason twice in his eight-year NBA career and while he enjoyed both experiences, he is at the point where he wants to contend for a title and simply making the playoffs isn’t good enough.

As Lowry enters unrestricted free agency next week, that’s one of the main factors that he’ll consider as he weighs his options. Lowry wants to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy in the near future, and this summer he could put himself in position to do that.

“I think the right situation is somewhere I’m winning and being happy, and honestly I want to play for a championship,” Lowry told Basketball Insiders. “I’m happy with making the playoffs and doing that, but the end game for all players should be a championship and that’s what I want to play for. I want to play for a championship.”

The Miami HEAT have been mentioned as a potential suitor for Lowry should LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh opt out and free up some cap space in Miami. If contending is truly Lowry’s top priority, the HEAT have to be considered an attractive destination for the point guard. When asked if he has given any thought to joining the HEAT, Lowry would only say that he hasn’t given the rumors much thought at this point.

“I haven’t really thought about too much lately with free agency because it’s still not here,” Lowry said. “Until something’s actually put down on the table, I mean rumors are just rumors. It’s just like the trade deadline – rumors are rumors until something is actually done. For me, I can’t think about what if or what could happen. I’m just focused on what’s realistic and what’s factual and what’s on paper. … I’m not worrying about the things that I can’t control until July 1, 12:01 on Tuesday.”

Lowry will be highly coveted this summer as he’s the top point guard on the market and coming off of a career-year in which he averaged 17.9 points, 7.4 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 1.5 steals. He’s excited to enter free agency and have some say over his future. He has been dealt twice in his NBA career and has constantly been mentioned in trade rumors, so he’s looking forward to controlling the process this time around.

“It’s very nice,” Lowry said. “It’s rewarding for the hard work that you put in. I think every player when they get the chance to go through free agency and pick and choose where they want to go and what they want to do with their career and life, it’s an amazing feeling. Especially when you work as hard as I do, and I think it took me a while to get to this position and this point, so I’m just going to enjoy it and be happy.”

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While Lowry will certainly meet with teams and weigh all of his options this offseason, a return to the Raptors is still a possibility as well. Toronto is coming off of an incredible 48-win season in which they finished as the third seed in the Eastern Conference.

“It was fun,” Lowry said of Toronto’s successful season. “I think it was one of those things where we expected it internally, but no one on the outside expected it. Internally, though, we expected to do something special and we said it from day one. For it to come true and to go the way it went, yeah it was fantastic and it was a joy to be a part of.”

When Lowry looks at the Raptors’ roster, he gets optimistic and thinks that the best is yet to come. If he were to re-sign with Toronto and the team returned as currently assembled, he believes the future could be bright. When asked how good the Raptors can be, Lowry doesn’t hesitate.

“Honestly, I’ve thought about it and I think the answer is very good,” Lowry said. “We have a lot of very good young pieces. It all starts with DeMar [DeRozan], and I think Jonas [Valanciunas] and Terrence [Ross] could be really good. I think that the team as a whole could be really good. Last year was a great year; we had a bunch of guys who just wanted to go out there and win games. Everyone was very unselfish and knew what was at stake and wanted to be a good team. I think the team is very talented. I think it’s very good upside for the Raptors.”

It’s easy to forget that before the Raptors started stringing together wins and climbing the standings, they were playing awful basketball and looking like a bottom feeder in the East. They got off to a very slow start on the season, sitting at 7-13. Shortly after, Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri started putting his fingerprints on the franchise, trading Rudy Gay to the Sacramento Kings.

For a moment, it seemed like Toronto might overhaul the roster and rebuild. The team’s other veterans were suddenly questioning their standing with the team, and Lowry admits he thought he was going to be sent packing.

“Honestly, I thought I was going to get traded,” Lowry said. “I thought it was going to be a done deal, to be honest. But Masai was very open and up front with me, and I understood everything that was going on. So it wouldn’t have been a surprise if it would have happened because he was up front. And, of course, I think every player should know that they can be traded at any moment, at any time. It’s a business. All I have to do is be a professional and go out there and do my job.”

Rather than trading Lowry, Ujiri decided to keep the Raptors intact and the team exceeded all expectations to finish the season. In recent months, Lowry and Ujiri have developed a close relationship and they talk often, which is important to the point guard because he wants to be on the same page as the person who is calling the shots in the front office.

“With me and him, our relationship is just an open one and a very honest one,” Lowry said of his bond with Ujiri. “And it starts with him. He’s a very open guy. He’s just very open and an honest guy and I really respect the things that he says to me. I think he always kind of liked my game and knew what I could do, but he heard of off the court issues and that other people had issues with me. He told me from day one he wanted me to be better – to be a better individual. When someone comes in and respects you and just wants to help you, you take pride in that and have respect for them as a man.”

This talk between Ujiri and Lowry really opened the point guard’s eyes. He had developed a reputation around the league for being difficult, having a bad attitude and challenging authority. He and Houston Rockets head coach Kevin McHale had an ugly, public feud and Lowry was viewed by some as a negative locker room presence.

This season, Lowry wanted to change that. He got married last July, which started his maturation process, and then he left his honeymoon early in order to spend more time training at Impact Basketball in Las Vegas. He hired a private chef, understanding that in order to be a great player in the NBA one must take care of their body. When he arrived in Toronto for training camp, he was a different person – helping the young players and emerging as a leader.

“I do for sure [feel that I’ve matured and changed],” Lowry said. “Honestly, I really believe that. I really just grew up and I was just more comfortable in my own skin and understood what was needed from me and what was expected of me.”

Joe Abunassar of Impact Basketball noticed the change in Lowry as soon as he arrived in Las Vegas for his offseason training, and started predicting that the point guard would have a breakout season.

“Kyle’s approach has been exceptional and he has really grown as a person,” Abunassar told me in December. “I think that has really translated to helping his game. He has been focused and he understands what being a top player in the NBA takes. It’s more than just basketball – it’s how he’s carrying himself and working. … I’ve seen huge, huge growth from him, especially these last eight months.”

Lowry was arguably the biggest snub from the Eastern Conference All-Star team this season, with many fans, media and players believing that he should’ve made the team. While he says that missing out on the honor didn’t bother him, he did make it clear that he’d like to be on the All-Star team before his career comes to an end.

“The snub doesn’t bother me at all,” Lowry said. “I don’t worry about things like that because I can’t control who they pick, who the coaches pick. All I can do is go out there and do my job. For me, I’m always motivated. I don’t need more motivation. My goal is always to be the best player I can be, and for me, being an All-Star is one of the best players you can be. So that’s always a goal of mine, as an individual goal, but my main goal is just to win.”

There’s that word again. Lowry is at the stage in his career where he wants to win above all else. Keep that in mind as he meets with suitors and considers his free-agent options in the coming weeks.