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There is some question, of course, about whether point guard Kyle Lowry will be with Miami through the end of the NBA season. His contract, which pays him $29.7 million for 2023-24, expires after this season, making him a valuable commodity should there be a significant Miami Heat trade to consider. But he made one thing clear this week: He intends on continuing to play, into next season.
Lowry is a six-time All-Star who has already logged 18 seasons in the NBA, with Memphis, Houston and, mostly, with Toronto before he signed with the Heat in 2021. He will turn 38 in March and his numbers have plummeted since his arrival in Miami.
He’d be a good candidate for retirement, but he says he is not ready to give up on the league.
“I want to play. I definitely want to play,” said Lowry, according to the Miami Herald. “I think I still play at a high enough level that I can contribute to a team at a high level. That’s the biggest thing for me is being able to stay healthy and I’m still motivated to play. I still love this game. This game has given me so much and I still feel like I can still help the team. That’s what I want to do is be able to play.”
Kyle Lowry = Good Miami Heat Trade Filler
Assuming Kyle Lowry does come back for a 19th NBA season next year, it will be at a much lower rate than the three-year, $85 million contract that he got two years ago. It is that contract that has been the fuel of much Miami Heat trade discussion in the past year.
On one hand, Lowry’s contract would be good filler if the team does decide to make a play for a highly paid star, like DeMar DeRozan or Zach LaVine of the Bulls. On the other hand, if the Heat had not given out that overwrought contract for a player in decline like Lowry in the first place, they might not need be as in need of a deal to bolster their scoring as they are these days.
Lowry currently is the 45th highest-paid player this season. For that money, the Heat have gotten 181 total points, which ranks 165th in the NBA. They’ve gotten a plus-32 on the scoreboard with Lowry playing, which ranks 104th in the NBA.
Scoring is Down, but Lowry is Effective
The combination of salary and production from Kyle Lowry is not good, and that keeps him at the fore of Miami Heat trade speculation. But he is a veteran who has proven to be versatile when coach Erik Spoelstra asks him to play different roles. Lowry moved to the bench last year after Gabe Vincent took over as the starting point guard, and with Vincent gone, he has moved back to the starting five.
And Lowry has been effective. He scores just 9.1 points per game (he averages 14.5 points in his career), but he adds 4.3 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 29.3 minutes. He has also shot 43.6% from the 3-point line, and has made 2.1 3-pointers per game, third on the team.
“He’s been able to fit in and complement and help a bunch of different lineups play well,” Spoelstra said. “I think that’s part of his genius. He just makes teams and units work. “He knows how to play with the ball and without the ball, he knows how to impact the game defensively. He knows how to do a ton of winning plays when we get in close games in fourth quarters. All that stuff we value and it leads to winning.”
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