Toronto Raptors: Kyle Lowry will opt-out of contract, says he wants a ring
Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry unsurprisingly announced he will opt-out of the final year of his contract on Monday and said he wants to win a ring. Nothing else.
The Toronto Raptors held their annual locker clean out on Monday and Kyle Lowry unsurprisingly announced he will opt-out of the final year of his contract. Considering Lowry’s player option was worth $12 million, I don’t think anyone is surprised by this announcement.
By opting-out, Lowry can now re-sign a maximum deal with the Raptors for more than $200 million if the team decides to use his Bird rights and offer a five-year deal. If the Raptors do not offer Lowry, the 31-year-old point guard can sign a max-deal elsewhere for just over $150 million.
Money aside, Lowry did not say much about his plans this offseason other than the fact he’s looking to win a ring with the team he signs to.
"“I honestly haven’t thought about any of that,” Lowry said when asked about what will go into his decision this offseason. “Honestly. What I’ve thought about is yes, I will opt-out and how I need to get better as a basketball player. That’s all I’ve thought about — and that I want a ring. That’s all that drives me”"
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Whether Lowry can accomplish that with the Raptors is debatable. He believes he can, although he also felt it was a better question to ask upper management, not a player since he feels they will automatically say yes.
A report from Marc Stein on Sunday said there were late season rumblings that Lowry would give legit-thought to switching to the Western Conference, but he didn’t address that report either.
Overall, there was nothing surprising about Lowry’s locker clean out press conference on Monday. He was guarded, yet straight-forward with his answers, and he didn’t provide much insight on where he might sign this summer.
Next: Has Kyle Lowry played his last game for the Raptors?
What do you think the Toronto Raptors should do with Kyle Lowry? Should they re-sign him? Or should they let him walk in free agency? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.