Toronto Raptors have spoken with Kyle Lowry, but no deal is imminent

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Toronto Raptors have been in contact with Kyle Lowry‘s agent, but a deal is not imminent.

When the clock struck midnight on July 1st, it meant a couple of things: 1) it’s officially Canada’s 150th birthday; 2) NBA free agency began; and 3) Adrian Wojnarowski, who recently joined ESPN, was finally released from his restrictions and able to share breaking NBA news.

For Toronto Raptors fans, number two and three are of the utmost importance because, you know, the Raptors have a lot of free agents this offseason, including point guard Kyle Lowry. Wojnarowski has had a long standing relationship with Lowry’s agent, Andy Miller, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that he has details about what’s going on between Toronto and Lowry. Here’s what Woj had to say early Saturday morning during ESPN’s NBA Free Agency show:

"“Kyle Lowry’s agent, Andy Miller, has spoke with Masai Ujiri a couple of times tonight. They’ve gone back and forth on some deal concepts. Barring them getting an agreement tonight, which certainly is not imminent, they’ll talk again tomorrow.”"

Aside from the fact Masai Ujiri and Lowry’s agent have recently spoken, there’s nothing new or revealing here. But what Woj said next about Ujiri and his possible vision for the Raptors is very compelling.

"“Masai has toyed with the idea, in the last couple of weeks, of maybe going young. Ownership has talked with management in Toronto about, “do they want to bring this group back together?” It’s a decision as an organization that they have to make.I think the fact that Paul George left the East — and he didn’t go to Cleveland, he didn’t go to Boston — all of a sudden I think Toronto looks at itself again and [says] let’s maybe reboot it again with these guys.But they’ve got to come on the numbers. Whatever those contracts are going to look like, and whatever the length of the deal is going to look like. I think that’s certainly something they’re talking about with Ibaka and Lowry, how far into the future they go.”"

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This doesn’t necessarily mean the Raptors are going to pass on Lowry and Ibaka and blow this roster up en route to a full blown youth movement, but it does at least tell us that Ujiri has considered some sort of step back that, by the sounds of it, would mean injecting more youth into the Raptors.

The counter to this strategy, however, is the Eastern Conference — outside of the Cavs — is hot garbage. You have at least six teams who are rebuilding and even if the Raptors blew this entire roster up, teams like the Nets will likely still be worse than Toronto.

On top of the handful of teams who are tanking, the upper echelon of the East isn’t exactly strong. You have the Cavs, who are in a class of their own, the Celtics, who seem to be collecting assets until the end of time and, for whatever reason, can’t acquire a superstar, and the Wizards, who are similar to the Raptors. So with the East being so open, does it make sense for the Raptors to tear this team down and rebuild? Probably not.

Next: Masai Ujiri is a pipedream for the Knicks

Of course, where Lowry ends up will have a huge impact on what the Raptors decided to do. But the question of whether this team should rebuild or not is one I’m sure fans will debate all offseason.

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