Kyle Lowry‘s contract extension includes a base salary of $30MM that’s fully guaranteed, plus a $500K bonus if he makes the All-Star team, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. The Raptors guard officially signed his extension on Monday. Lowry will make approximately $35MM this season. He’s the first player 33 or older to sign an extension worth $30MM or more as a base salary.
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- Julius Randle, who signed a lucrative three-year contract with the Knicks this summer, has All-Star aspirations, as he told Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. He’ll be looked upon as a go-to scorer and facilitator as a point forward in the offensive scheme. New York hasn’t had an All-Star since Carmelo Anthony, but Randle believes he can end that drought. “I just feel like situation and opportunity. Everything I’ve been through in the past, all the work I’ve put in in the past has prepared me for this opportunity now,” Randle said. “So it’s just a goal of mine. Eventually you feel like you have an opportunity. I feel like I do.”
- Knicks guard Dennis Smith Jr. wants to prove he’s a floor leader and not just a scorer, Steve Popper of Newsday writes. Smith is one of several players vying for the point guard job. “I got better at it,” Smith said. “What’s so funny is I don’t even know where the story came from that I’m trying to score all the time. I never got where that came from. I feel like this year we got some really good pieces around us for our team, some guys that can really score the ball, so I feel like it’s easy to set these guys up.”
- Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie still plans to use his contract as an investment tool despite league objections, but he’s pushed back the launch date, as he detailed on his Twitter account. His original launch date was Monday but he’ll wait until opening night since he still hopes to form a partnership with the league and the NBA is preoccupied with the China controversy. “Having been on the ground in China, we are sensitive to what the NBA has been dealing with,” he said. Dinwiddie wants to enable investors to essentially buy shares of his three-year, $34.4MM contract.
Randle will be an all star this year.
He been playing so much this offseason and training with Brickley. Plus on the Knicks him and Barrett will be the main go to options and he’s playing in the east.
In terms fo the easts power forwards there’s John Collins, Kevin Love, Tobias Harris, Blake Griffin, Aaron Gordon and Pascal Siakim.
Collins is not as good at Randle neither is Gordon. Kevin Love will no doubt get injured, Tobias will play more minutes at SF but will probably make the all stars too. Siakim is a really solid player but cause he’s in Toronto and not NY and cause he’s not as greater scorer as Randle I think Randle might make it ahead of him. Griffin should definitely make All stars
The Knicks aren’t nearly as bad as people think they are.
And they also have a decent chance of signing AD next summer.
I hope they don’t sign AD. Not interested in any player, or person, who would seek out LeBron and want to be a part of his circus. I like how LeBron is all about civil rights but wants to not be critical of China because it will cost him money. You can’t have it both ways. I’m onboard for the civil rights part but not the money part. He is a sellout.
Why wouldn’t Giannis just play the 4 at ASG? There’s your PF starter.
“What’s so funny is I don’t even know where the story came from that I’m trying to score all the time. I never got where that came from.”
It comes from reality, Dennis. You shoot 40% from the field but still jack up 14 shots a game while only averaging 5 assists and 3 turnovers.
DSJ needs to understand that the statements are as much about skill set as perspective. Other than run, jump and dunk, there’s nothing he does at a plus level. He has limited floor vision. This is not a skill package normally associated with a facilitating PG.