The Heat have officially acquired point guard Kyle Lowry from the Raptors via sign-and-trade, Miami announced today in a press release. Toronto received point guard Goran Dragic and big man Precious Achiuwa in the deal.
Lowry was one of the first free agents to make a commitment when the negotiation period opened on Monday evening, but it took all week for the details of the sign-and-trade to be confirmed. Dragic and Achiuwa were always believed to be part of the deal, but there were rumors that Dragic would be flipped to a third team or that the Raptors would receive additional pieces. Ultimately, it’s just a two-for-one swap.
Lowry’s new, fully guaranteed contract with the Heat was initially reported to be worth $90MM over three years, but it’ll actually come in at $85MM, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Miami would’ve needed to include more salary in addition to Dragic and Achiuwa for matching purposes in order to accommodate that $90MM figure, notes Blake Murphy of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The Heat, who have been after Lowry since at least the trade deadline in March, will unite the six-time All-Star with his close friend Jimmy Butler, who has agreed to sign a lucrative new contract extension of his own with Miami.
While a guaranteed three-year, $85MM investment is a risk for a player who is entering his age-35 season, Lowry has championship experience and is an ideal fit on virtually any roster due to his ability to handle the ball, knock down outside shots, and provide strong defense. He averaged 17.2 PPG, 7.3 APG, and 5.3 RPG on .436/.396/.875 in 46 games (34.8 MPG) in his final season as a Raptor.
“Kyle Lowry is a great leader and an exceptional defender,” Heat president Pat Riley said in a statement. “As a point guard, he will bring important skills to run the offense, score the ball and defend with the very best.”
The Raptors, meanwhile, still could theoretically flip Dragic to another team in the coming days, weeks, or months. However, Marc Stein reported earlier today that Toronto has “resisted external interest” in the Slovenian guard from the Mavericks and other teams.
Barring further trades, Dragic will join the Raptors’ backcourt alongside Fred VanVleet, Malachi Flynn, and Gary Trent Jr., while Achiuwa will battle for minutes in a frontcourt rotation that includes Khem Birch and Chris Boucher.
Do you agree with this? Heat are top 3 team in the East come playoffs time?
Tier 1
Nets, Bucks, Heat
Heat add Lowry and Tucker
Tier 2
Hawks
76ers
Bulls
Tier 3
Pacers
Knicks
Celtics
Celtics could miss playoffs. 76ers upgrade nothing so far.
Starters
Tucker
Duncan Rob
Bam
Butler
Lowry
Heat have $12 million tax room.
Bench
Herro
Dipo
Morris
Dedmon
I wonder if Gordon from the Rockets would fancy the Heat. Pretty solid 6th man from the bench. Knocks 3s down with ease and has pretty decent defensive mind set at guard. Not sure what Heat has to make a deal but Gordon won’t come with a huge contract and gives Heat plenty to work with to fill out their bench
Sixers don’t need to upgrade. Tucker and Lowry as starters are weak bam is undersized. No bench.
Granted the 76ers did not add much or improve vastly…I still think it is unfair and inaccurate to say they have not improved either.
Keep Kork at 3-$15
Keep Green
Drop Hill
Swap Drummond for Howard (a wash at worst, but I think it is a minor uptick at back up 5, and at least competence in the 15-25 games Joel sits) (+ none of Dwights dumb techs that he would get weekly)
Niang replaces Scott- a small upgrade, but still an upgrade
Drafted Springer good developmental or trade asset
Combined with an added year of experience and development for Maxey/Thybulle
And the only noted loss is Hill. I do like Hill and think he will shine back with the Bucks…he just couldn’t (injury a large part) carve out a niche and rotation spot here.
But to say that they have not improved is false (unless you think Hill contributed that much last year?). The bigger question is did any teams pass them? Maybe the Heat? Barring injury (or a major trade) the sixers should be a 5 seed at worst.
In terms of matchups, I’m pretty much still worried about the same teams I’ve been worried about for a couple of years. Philly, Atlanta, Toronto…I’m slightly less worried about other teams that have been issues like Charlotte and Indiana
I also find it interesting that Philly drafted Maxey and Springer in back to back years b/c both can be compared to Kyle Lowry…curious to see if they do anything with their guards. I do think they downgraded with Dwight to Drummond, by a lot, and Mike Scott to Niang defensively, but those are depth pieces I dont think will matter, if Doc Rivers can figure out how to use his players…but the fact he doesnt know who plays on his team might help make it a little easier for the Heat, the same way he did so this past season
Only team Id put ahead of Heat is Bucks and Nets. So Top 3 it is.
Doesn’t matter anyway, Heat in 3.
Overrated. Is Bill O’Reilly still the running the Heat.
Most overrated move of the off season was Lowry.
A backcourt of Butler and Lowry… pretty stylish is healthy
I actually don’t think the Heat got any better for the depth they gave up for Lowry.
Still not enough to compete with the Big three of nets bucks sixers but Reilly never understood bench depth .
Look out boys the Sixers who did nothing and can’t make it past the second round are coming!
won the East and brought basically the same team back, but they’re not at all a threat. lol to that. Brooklyn got stomped as well.
Not a threat and you’ll never convince me they are until they get out of round 2
This makes them the 4th team in the east..maybe?? I’m not wild about their starting 5 and they are really short on the bench
Looks like the Raptors should of dealt Lowry at the TD. They may have gotten more from the Heat.
If Toronto adds one more shooter, I’m really liking their roster. Dragic fits what they need too, so I doubt they move him. Still really sad to see him go. I hope the Heat will be able to bring him back as soon as next year. Pat Riley made sure he got paid, and he should also be on a competitive team, which could potentially give the Heat some problems
As has been said numerous times in the last couple of years, Kyle Lowry brings something the Heat havent had in a while with great defense at the guard spot. Now they have issues on the wing, but hopefully they can add something there
Achiuwa definitely still has a lot of potential. I’ve said he kind of has some similarities between James Johnson, Bam, and Montrezl Harrell. If he gets slightly better defensively, or adds a more consistent jump shot, he will potentially be a really good player in this league. I thought he should have played in the Milwaukee series. He played really well against them late in the regular season
Have no issues with FVV, Trent, Dragic and Flynn manning the back court
Wish we had more size and bulk up front at the center position. Really like Birch who could fill in as our staying C BUT not as our starting C
Actually quite excited about what we have. Will be interesting to see if Siakim gets trade , possibly a 3 team trade
GS gets Simmons + draft pics
Philly gets Siakim +draft pics
Raps get Wiseman, Wiggins + draft pics
or