Everything Kyle Lowry

[KeonClark]

Kyle Lowry doesn't have much to say about Masai Ujiri. (via @Rachel__Nichols) pic.twitter.com/45YYg159Tq

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) December 5, 2018

I don't like it...the guy's handed you the keys to the franchise (well, both you and your best friend had it for 5 years), gave you $150 million, you in fact gave him credit for helping turn your career around, and now you're playing with Kawhi Leonard.

[Raptor Jesus]

The fact he waited for US National coverage to break it down is telling.

I didn't catch the Athletic article but he and Spears chopped it up as well now Nichols; seems he's over the Canadian Beat writers. And for that I can't say I blame him. There's some nuance and intent lost in translation when he works with them at the best of times and at their or his worst its like the youtube comment section of prank videos.

[golden]

I don't like it...the guy's handed you the keys to the franchise (well, both you and your best friend had it for 5 years), gave you $150 million, you in fact gave him credit for helping turn your career around, and now you're playing with Kawhi Leonard.

And Danny Green. But all will be forgiven if the toxic saboteur leads us to the Finals and we don't get swept.

[MixxAOR]

All-Star departures from Toronto are always filled with drama and betrayal. Damn. It is what it is.

[BrydenB]

Why are we talking about this? Lowry is set to decline soon anyway. The sales pitch to Kawhi has little to do with Lowry - it has to do with the rest of the team, and the potential to add another star with cap space in 2020. You can't pitch a guy on signing a long term deal to play with Lowry in his 34-38 year old seasons.

Lowry's purpose is to maximize the championship window in this season and next if Kawhi re-signs. It also appears to be his intention.

I'm trying not to get too caught up in the future and enjoy what is happening, but is our cap sheet clean enough to do that in 2020?

[A.I]

I don't see an issue with what Lowry said. I'm sure he was upset that Derozan got traded, but he isn't whining or being toxic about it. He is here, he is the leader of the team and he is doing his job. Derozan was his best friend but he knows what Kawhi and Danny bring. You don't need to be friends with your boss to make things work.

[The Claw Reborn]

I don't see an issue with what Lowry said. I'm sure he was upset that Derozan got traded, but he isn't whining or being toxic about it. He is here, he is the leader of the team and he is doing his job. Derozan was his best friend but he knows what Kawhi and Danny bring. You don't need to be friends with your boss to make things work.

This 100%

[MixxAOR]

I mean Danny's reaction pretty much sums it up

[golden]

I don't see an issue with what Lowry said. I'm sure he was upset that Derozan got traded, but he isn't whining or being toxic about it. He is here, he is the leader of the team and he is doing his job. Derozan was his best friend but he knows what Kawhi and Danny bring. You don't need to be friends with your boss to make things work.

The issue is the timing. Lowry should have got that one out of the way at training camp. Today is not the day to embarass your boss in front of important people, especially with the Mandela stuff that Masai is also hosting.

[slaw]

The issue is the timing. Lowry should have got that one out of the way at training camp. Today is not the day to embarass your boss in front of important people, especially with the Mandela stuff that Masai is also hosting.

It would be preferable if Lowry kept that in-house but I don't think this rises to the level of embarrassing anyone or being a problem. It's been clear from right after the Kawhi trade that Lowry was not 100% happy but 100% happy Lowry isn't any good anyway. Raps need slightly pissed off Lowry.

And, I can't imagine it's a surprise. Lowry doesn't strike me as an agreeable person, I'm sure his feeling are well known to everyone that matters.

[bertarapsfan]

I mean Danny's reaction pretty much sums it up

like the change of avatar haha

[DanH]

I'm trying not to get too caught up in the future and enjoy what is happening, but is our cap sheet clean enough to do that in 2020?

Yes.

Right now we've got only OG and Norm on the books for summer 2020. Add in Pascal's cap hold and that's $22M on the books. Add Kawhi at a max deal and you're at 57M. The cap is projected at 116M, while a 7-9 year max salary would be 35M.

So OG, Norm, Pascal, Kawhi and mystery max free agent behind curtain number 1 add up to 92M. Which leaves us 24M for the rest of the roster. With a 14 man minimum, that means 8M of that goes to cap holds, leaving another 16M player we can hold on to (whether that's a cheap-ish extension for Lowry or Green or Serge or JV after their current deals, or a re-signed FVV or Wright, or two guys at 8M each). The rest of the roster would need to be filled out with minimum signings and draft picks. Pascal can then be re-signed to go over the cap.

[Jclaw]

if we're reading the tea leaves...did Lowry go to the Mandela function last night? Did he go last year? But again, he's going to be friends with DeMar for a lot longer than he's going to work for Masai. You can't really expect him to go on national television and say he thinks Masai is great for moving DeMar.

[KeonClark]

The worst player to president relationship I can ever recall was Michael Jordan and Jerry Krause in the 90s. Despised each other.

My memory isnt what it was before but I seem to recall them still having some success working together

[themasao]

I don't see an issue with what Lowry said. I'm sure he was upset that Derozan got traded, but he isn't whining or being toxic about it. He is here, he is the leader of the team and he is doing his job. Derozan was his best friend but he knows what Kawhi and Danny bring. You don't need to be friends with your boss to make things work.

This is an interesting question to me. Like, is he doing his job? Obviously he's playing well, which is great, but is that the extent of his job?

Thing is, these guys get paid truly absurd amounts of money for a reason. And that reason is *not* just to play basketball. There's a reason media availability is mandated.

Look, my boss pays me (I think fairly) to be a lawyer. I have to go to court and draft claims and shit. That's what I'm paid to do. But I also have to show up at Christmas parties and talk to people I don't like and avoid speaking poorly of my employer - especially publicly. Part of this is just general professionalism, and frankly, part of this is just not being a dick.

I love the Raptors and I'm glad Lowry is on our team because he's an excellent player. But honestly, ever since he got here, he's mostly been a surly dick. He regularly skips media obligations (pretty sure he did it after losing to Denver - loss #5 and the guy can't even handle speaking for 5 minutes). He regularly talks down and speaks rudely to the media and even when he's in a good mood he's as difficult as possible for them. And he's not the only one, Popovich has been a prick to the media for years. He's one of the great coaches of all time, but he's also an asshole lol.

So yeah, I'm glad Lowry's playing great, and no, he doesn't have to be Masai's friend, but this idea that it's not his 'job' to put on a good face, represent the organization and address the media as requested is kinda bullshit. His comments today just continue a weary trend.