Toronto Raptors Rumors: Casey, DeRozan met with Lowry this week
Dwane Casey, DeMar DeRozan and Norman Powell reportedly met with Kyle Lowry this week, and while the motivation for this meeting is unknown, it once again shows the Raptors’ desire to re-sign Lowry this offseason.
The Toronto Raptors have made it no secret: they want to re-sign Kyle Lowry this offseason. In case you didn’t fully believe Masai Ujiri and co., a report from ESPN’s Chris Haynes should all but eliminate any doubt you might have.
According to Haynes, the Raptors soon-to-be point guard met with Dwane Casey, DeMar DeRozan and Norman Powell in the Bay area this week before the NBA Finals.
ESPN Sources: Free-agent to be Kyle Lowry had a meeting with DeMar DeRozan, coach Dwane Casey in Bay Area this week. https://t.co/eodRY8RJPd
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 2, 2017
It’s unclear why this meeting was setup, but I think it’s safe to assume this meeting was to discuss Lowry potentially returning to the Raptors and how the team’s “culture reset” might go this offseason.
Aside from the Raptors once again showing their desire to re-sign Lowry this offseason, there are a couple other takeaways from this reported meeting.
The first is that DeRozan, who is Lowry’s best friend, is clearly willing to do whatever he can to maintain Toronto’s All-Star backcourt duo. Lowry has insisted in the past that his relationship with DeRozan would not influence his decision this summer, but something tells me it might have a bigger impact than he likes to admit.
The second takeaway is this meeting is just another example suggesting Dwane Casey will be back as the Raptors head coach next season. I mean, why else would he meet with Lowry? I highly doubt it was just to “catch up and see how things are going” this offseason. So I think it’s safe to say any questions lingering around Casey’s status for next season can be put to rest. He will be back as the Raptors head coach.
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The final takeaway from this meeting is Powell should take on an expanded role next season. Yes, the former UCLA standout does train and live in the Bay area during the offseason, and he did attend Game 1 of the NBA Finals, but Lowry and DeRozan are both fans of what Powell brings to the Raptors and it’s clear both players envision him as a part of the Raptors’ future.
Haynes did mention a part of this meeting was to “expose his players to the NBA Finals culture,” but I think it’s more than fair to assume these three takeaways listed above were also a part of their meeting.
As for where the Raptors and Lowry go from here, everything remains the same. Lowry is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and I doubt he’ll give any indication of what he intends to do before then.
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With Serge Ibaka, Patrick Patterson and P.J. Tucker all set to become free agents, too, Lowry’s decision obviously has a massive impact on the Raptors’ offseason plan, which is exactly why meetings like this take place well in advance of July 1. However, despite this report, it sounds like everything remains the same with Lowry and he will test the market this summer.