While the impact of injuries to key players Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka was a major point of concern when they first happened, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that the Toronto Raptors not only have the depth to sustain these injuries, but they can do so without missing much of a beat.
The team is 4-2 in games without those two players and with the wins have brought about the revelations of role players Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Terence Davis, Chris Boucher and Matt Thomas.
And, more importantly, it has thrust the likes of Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet and OG Anunoby directly into the spotlight, something that the trio has responded to incredibly well.
Those three have been so good that it’s causing people to begin asking some interesting questions, particularly in regards to their contract status.
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Obviously Siakam’s been taken care of with a max extension kicking in next season, but VanVleet is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, and the Raptors will be in the same extension-talk boat they were in before the start of this season with Siakam with Anunoby before the beginning of next season.
These are real financial decisions the team will have to make, particularly as it’s likely that the club will want to keep as much flexibility as possible for the summer of 2021 when Giannis Antetokounmpo is set to hit the open market.
But looking specifically at next season, Lowry will still be on the books at about $33.3 million. And, as JD Bunkis put forward in the latest episode of Free Association, given the emergence of what appears to be the Raptors’ future, would it not make sense to at least explore moving Lowry now?
“Is there a growing case for Masai Ujiri and the Toronto Raptors to consider moving Kyle Lowry or be willing to move Kyle Lowry to take more of a look at what you have in [Siakam, VanVleet and Anunoby] and your bench for the evaluation of where this future is going?” Bunkis asked.
A controversial question to pose, for sure, but this isn’t to say that Bunkis believes the Raptors are better without Lowry. Far from it, actually.
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“I think the Raptors are better with Kyle Lowry,” he said. “If Kyle Lowry’s on this team, especially with no point guards, and with an offence that sometimes sticks and doesn’t have creators, it’s no doubt in my mind he makes this team better. He elevates the ceiling of the team.”
In fact, given how good the club’s looked thus far, the impending addition of a five-time NBA all-star in Lowry has swayed Bunkis from feeling the Raptors have no shot at returning to the NBA Finals to feeling they have around a 12-per cent chance of getting back. Something that then begs another question regarding this team and the possibility of moving Lowry.
“Is that 12 per cent that I mentioned so compelling that you need to keep Kyle at all costs and ensure that you have as best a chance as possible to make it to an NBA Finals this year?”
Coming into the season there was talk over whether the Raptors would be looking to move Lowry because the team might not be good enough. Now, it seems, that conversation’s shifted because the team might have proven to be nearly as good without him.
You can listen to the entire episode of Free Association in the YouTube player above where, among other things, Bunkis and co-host Donnovan Bennett discuss the controversy stirred up over Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright and C.J. Miles not receiving a championship ring.
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