It’s early yet, but Pat Riley’s decision to acquire Kyle Lowry from the Toronto Raptors in a sign-and-trade deal feels like a home run for the Miami Heat. Even at age 35, Lowry has the look of a player who can help get the team back to the NBA Finals.
Whether he’s on the floor with Jimmy Butler, Duncan Robinson, PJ Tucker and Bam Adebayo or the same crew with Tyler Herro filling in for Butler, the Heat’s starters — with Lowry running point — are outscoring opponents by nearly 11 points per 100 possessions.
As long as his body holds up, Lowry’s spot as the Heat’s floor general is probably on lockdown.
Regardless of what he is able to do with the Heat as his career enters its final phase, though — even if he helps lead the team to a title — he’ll never be Miami’s guy. After nine long years in the Great White North, he’s a Raptor through and through. So, it should come as no surprise that he still intends to end his career with the club.
Lowry Determined to Retire as a Raptor
Lowry spoke with The Undefeated’s Marc Spears recently and went deep into his final days with the Raptors. During the course of their conversation, he made it clear that Toronto will forever hold a significant portion of his heart. Moreover, he revealed that when the time comes for him to hang up the hi-tops, he wants to do so as a Raptor.
“That’s still home. Like I’ve said, and I’ll say it now, I will sign a one-day contract and I’ll retire as a Toronto Raptor. That is my everything,” he revealed.
Due to the pandemic, the Raptors were forced to play out Lowry’s last season with the team in Tampa. So, the six-time All-Star never got a real chance to say goodbye to the city of Toronto or his fans there. That opportunity will finally come on February 3 when the Heat travel north to take on Lowry’s old crew.
By that time it will have been nearly two years since he last played there, and Lowry is already feeling the butterflies at the thought of his return.
“I’m a man’s man, but I know I’m going to be a little bit sensitive and crying that day. I don’t know. I might hold it in,” Lowry said. “I’ve talked to [former Raptors teammate] DeMar [DeRozan] about it. But it’s one of them days where I know it’s going to be a lot of love for me and me giving love back, it’s just going to be interesting how it goes down because I don’t know what to expect.”
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Does Lowry Have a Post-Retirement Future With His Old Team?
Given his love for the city of Toronto and the Raptors organization, one could see Lowry joining up with the team in some capacity once his playing days are done. For his part, though, Lowry isn’t ready to talk about his post-retirement plans.
Also — he’s at peace with where he left the franchise:
I don’t know if I want to work in this league. Everybody’s saying it will be good. I respect our league. And my goals for what I’m thinking about as a league, I’m looking bigger than just working in the league. My goal is to create enough wealth where I can be part of something. But the sweet part about me leaving was, now Freddy [VanVleet] gets all the attention, OG [Anunoby] gets all the attention. Pascal [Siakam] gets even more of the attention. I left the franchise in a great place to my little brothers. They are truly my little brothers. No, they are family. They are equals to me. They’re just younger than me.
And I’ve left the franchise in a place where Pascal is an All-Star, right? He’s going to come back, have a great [season]. Freddy’s going to continue to get better. He’s going to emerge as an even better leader. They’re guys who are still young. OG, you see his emergence as the offensive player. They will get more of the attention now. I would take all the blame because I wanted to. I never wanted them to have to deal with that stuff, because I just felt I could take the world on my shoulders. And they can, too, but now it’s theirs. I left the franchise in a great place.
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Heat Floor General, 6x All-Star Reveals His Retirement Plans