DeMar DeRozan isn’t the only former Raptor with interest in the Lakers. Kyle Lowry may still want to get to Los Angeles as well.
The Los Angeles Lakers were heavily involved in talks for Kyle Lowry back at the March trade deadline, but ultimately couldn’t get a deal done for the veteran Toronto Raptors star, backing out when the price got too high for them. But it sounds like rumors connecting the two parties may not be done quite yet, and for the first time, we’re hearing the interest is mutual.
According to Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times, Lowry would still like to wear purple and gold next season:
Though the Lakers didn’t acquire Lowry at the trade deadline, he remains interested in joining them, according to people with knowledge of his situation.
Unlike his former Raptors teammate DeMar DeRozan, however, there is no indication that Lowry is willing to take a pay cut to do so. It’s hard to begrudge him for that, but it does mean he will be even tougher to acquire now than he was at the deadline.
The Lakers could theoretically offer the Raptors the same trade package they have reportedly discussed giving up for Russell Westbrook — Dennis Schröder, Kyle Kuzma and Talen Horton-Tucker — in a complicated triple sign-and-trade for Lowry, but all the same caveats apply, with Schröder and Horton-Tucker needing to want to go to Toronto/Tampa, and the Raptors wanting to pay them to do so.
It’s just a lot of moving parts, even if you replace Horton-Tucker or Kuzma with the likely opting in Montrezl Harrell. The Lakers could also theoretically just try to clear cap space for Lowry, but that would require Lowry probably taking a pay cut and the Lakers losing a bunch of good players. Lowry would certainly help the Lakers, but if including Horton-Tucker in the deal was too much for the front office then, has their thought process on adding the 35 year old Lowry changed much over the last few months? Are the Raptors more interested in the Lakers’ pieces now than when they passed on a trade in March? We just don’t know.
But when you cut through all the noise and all the players being linked to the Lakers, there are three main takeaways here.
- Agents leaking that their clients want to go to the Lakers for leverage SZN is officially upon us
- The Lakers really seem to want a star point guard
- We still have yet to hear ANY rumors that they want to bring Dennis Schröder back
Beyond that, we probably won’t know anything for sure until free agency begins on Aug. 3. That doesn’t mean you won’t HEAR a lot more before then.
For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.
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