Kyle Lowry Contract: Latest News, Rumors on PG's Future with Raptors

Alec NathanOct 5, 2016

Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry has established himself as one of the league's premier floor generals over the past few seasons, and he plans to parlay that status into a big payday next summer.

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Lowry Will Decline 2017-18 Player Option, Enter Free Agency

Wednesday, Oct. 5

According to The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski, Lowry recently said he will decline his $12 million player option for next season and enter free agency.

With the salary cap skyrocketing, that's an easy decision for Lowry to make. He'll be 31 years old when free agency opens in July, and he could command a five-year maximum deal from teams with loads of cap room.

But as Wojnarowski noted, Lowry would prefer to remain with the Raptors for the long term.

"Somewhere on the summer market—Philadelphia, New York, perhaps the Clippers, should they lose [Chris] Paul—there will be an offer in the neighborhood of a max deal for him," Wojnarowski wrote. "Nevertheless, Lowry’s preference is a painless, fast, five-year deal to stay in Toronto, to take him into his mid-30s with the Raptors."

While the Raptors have not said whether they will re-sign Lowry, general manager Masai Ujiri told Wojnarowski Lowry is a core component of what the team has built.

"Kyle has been at the forefront of the Raptor movement," Ujiri said. "How he goes, we go. He has helped establish a culture that will grow even more. We really appreciate that. He is a winner, and we want to win."

Financially, the Raptors figure to exceed the salary-cap threshold if they re-sign Lowry to a five-year max deal. As a point of reference, the Memphis Grizzlies signed Mike Conley to a five-year max deal worth $153 million over the summer.

Toronto has $80.2 million in guaranteed contracts on the books for next season, according to Basketball Insiders.

The most recent 2017-18 salary-cap projections have the figure clocking in around $102 million—down from an original estimate of $107 million, per ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst.

That same projection would also see the luxury-tax threshold dip from $127 million to $122 million.