Kyle Lowry has seven days from the date of the Raptors’ final playoff game to make a decision on his player option for next season, Bobby Marks of The Vertical notes. Lowry is expected to test the free agent market and Toronto must figure out what kind of offer would make sense. In addition to Lowry, the team will also have to worry about retaining Serge Ibaka, P.J. Tucker, and Patrick Patterson.
The team has roughly $76MM in guaranteed contracts on the books for next season. Re-signing all their players may be difficult, but finding replacements on the market with only $25MM of cap space will be an even harder feat.
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Derrick Rose, who will be a free agent this summer, will likely need to take a short-term deal and prove he’s healthy, Marks adds in the same piece. The scribe adds that Rose may be best suited to play off the ball at this point in his career.
- The Magic are looking for a strong presence to lead the basketball operations side of the front office while CEO Alex Martins runs the business side, sources tell Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. It was previously reported that Orlando may try to poach Larry Bird for that role, however, Bontemps believes that kind of move is unlikely for the former Celtics great.
- Terrence Ross, who was sent to the Magic mid-season, is embracing the challenge of helping Orlando get back to the NBA’s second season, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe writes. “Everything counts when you’re trying to make it to the playoffs or chase the trophy,” Ross said. “It’s a whole bunch of things that goes into it. You’ve got to make sure you’re playing the game right with pure heart, understand what it takes to win. I think that’s what we’re trying to figure out here.”