The Miami Heat rumor mill is ablaze over the reported interest in Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors. Here is why that wouldn’t be an upward move.
If you have been researching Miami Heat rumors at all over the past few days, then you’ve probably come across a few different things. One of those things seems to be a rumor that the Heat could have interest in Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors.
This seems odd at first when considering that the Raptors just gave him an extension on his current contract and the fact that they have yet to officially and publicly make him available, but some tend to think that is a positive factor for potential suitors. In example, Slam Magazine tends to believe that the extension and the security of it would be more appealing to a potential trade partner for the Raptors.
While the opinion from this direction would be that this limits the flexibility of the team taking him on if they want to go another route or if things don’t work after the season, that isn’t even the biggest reason for concern when it comes to the Miami Heat. The reason that the Miami Heat shouldn’t entertain the notion is much simpler than the finicky and oftentimes confusing nature of contracts and contractual language.
When analyzing Lowry’s performance last season, it appears eerily similar to another player that the Miami Heat faithful should already be very familiar with. Lowry averaged 14.2 points, 8.7 assists, and 4.8 rebounds on last season, whereas the familiar player averaged 13.7 points, 4.8 assists, and 3.1 rebounds. This “familiar” player is Goran Dragic.
Not only did Dragic average very similar numbers to Lowry on last season, but he did so in about half the games and about 6.5 fewer minutes per game. The assist numbers are the statistics that most deviates between the two, but there are ways of compensating for or explaining that.
Dragic didn’t have as much responsibility as a playmaker for the Miami Heat on last season as Lowry had for Toronto, with Dragic’s injury and the emergence of Justise Winslow playing a part there. That also leads to the fact that due to Winslow and the arrival of Jimmy Butler, who will surely have the ball in his hands a ton, the greater assist total for Lowry wouldn’t be indicative of a greater impact that he could possibly make on this team over Dragic.
Some will also want to point to Kawhi Leonard’s presence in Toronto on last season, which may have dramatically effected Lowry’s numbers, but that is a moot point as well when considering that Leonard missed 22 games on last season. You also have to consider the fact that Dragic’s numbers were negatively impacted or less than they would have been due to the time he missed as well.
To be clear here, trading for Lowry would be irrelevant, for not, and a lateral move. They would probably have to relieve themselves of an asset to get him, while they also don’t need what he brings because they have a guy on their roster already with nearly identical numbers and a very similar skillset, if not a better one.
You would admire the Miami Heat for considering such a move, because it does show an aggressiveness while pointing to the fact that they are doing all they can to take advantage of Jimmy Butler’s presence and a banged-up Eastern Conference, but this isn’t the right move to make. That is why trading for Lowry would simply be a silly move for the Miami Heat at this point.