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     Saarang Pilla Bewarse Username: Saarang Post Number: 593 Registered: 04-2015 Posted From: 97.126.40.189 Rating: N/A |
One of the most fascinating stories of this free agency is how Don Masai handled the free agency of Lowry and Ibaka. They were not good enough to be championship contenders but still had by far the best 3 years in frachise history. Most people thought given Canada's high taxes, Msasi would have to give out a 5 year max deal to bring back Lowry and then they will be paying a huge luxury tax for nothing. He played the negotiations spectacularly and came out with a 3 year deal under 100 million for Lowry and bought back Ibaka on a 3 year deal as well. They will make the play-offs make money off those play-games and entertain the fans atleast for the next 2 years...and then will have clean books going forward. No wonder every team wants Masai running the show for them. Zach Lowe in May.. http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19332982/zach-lowe-kyle-lowry-demar-derozan-f uture-toronto-raptors-nba-playoffs Everything starts with Lowry, Toronto's best player, and one of the most important in franchise history. Toronto can offer Lowry a five-year, $200 million-plus deal; rivals can offer only four-year deals starting at the same maximum annual salary of around $35 million. The Raptors would be right to feel queasy offering Lowry the full boat. He is 31, with some nicks and bruises. Point guards don't tend to age well. Ibaka is younger, and will probably get around $20 million per season on his next contract -- much less than Lowry. Play hardball with Lowry, and he might leave -- just like Al Horford bolted Atlanta after the Hawks haggled over that dicey fifth season. Lowry's a prickly, proud dude, and he will have suitors -- including his hometown Sixers. He signed what turned out to be a wildly below-market contract in 2014, and he (justifiably) wants to be paid as a franchise guy. He led the sad-sack Raptors out of the sullen Andrea Bargnani era, to places where they had never been. Say goodbye to Lowry, and there is little reason to pay Ibaka. Barring a major salary dump, the Raptors would not have enough cap room even with Lowry gone to add shooting around the DeRozan-Ibaka core. Ibaka is trending the wrong way. He's a good spot-up shooter, but opponents still mostly leave him open. He doesn't have the sort of gravitational pull that changes the geometry of the floor. His defense has fallen off. He can't post up, and he still has zero playmaking skills. Pass him the ball in open space, and the music stops. He holds the ball, the scrambled defense resets itself, and every window closes. If Lowry leaves, the rational move, as painful as it would be after this era of good feelings, is a full teardown. LeBron isn't going anywhere. Boston, Washington, and Milwaukee are rising. Toronto has collected a bunch of interesting young players in Norman Powell, Jakob Poeltl, Pascal Siakam and Delon Wright. Unleash the kids, lose a lot of games, and play the high lottery again. Remember: These Raptors are an accident. Ujiri has long acknowledged that. Trading Rudy Gay in 2014 was step one in a possible tank job. Sending Lowry to the Knicks would have finished it, but the deal fell apart. Ujiri isn't satisfied with being good, and he has shown a willingness to take extreme measures in pursuing championship-level greatness. |