The Sixers missed out on Kyle Lowry at the trade deadline, though the franchise will pursue the Villanova product this offseason, according to a report by Sam Amick of The Athletic.
The Raptors will have the ability to sign-and-trade Lowry, something that the Sixers will need if they want to bring the 35-year-old point guard to town, as Philadelphia projects to be over the salary cap by a significant margin.
There were rumblings that Lowry will seek a two-year, $50 million contract in free agency this summer. Piecing together salary to send to Toronto in order to accommodate that sort of arrangement won’t be impossible for the Sixers but there are major hurdles. Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, and Tobias Harris are all making over $30 million annually and it’s hard to envision Daryl Morey sending any of the three north just to accommodate Lowry (unless it’s part of a larger set of trades).
The acquisition of George Hill reportedly took the Sixers out of the running for Lowry at the deadline, though there’s no question that Lowry would elevate the team even higher. Only part ($1.28 million) of Hill’s $10.0 million salary for next season is guaranteed, however, it becomes fully guaranteed on August 2, which also happens to be the same date that free agency begins.
That wasn’t the intention when Hill signed his three-year pact (with Milwaukee in 2019) since all no one could have predicted the pandemic-changing schedule two summers ago. It’s possible that the two sides agree to move that guarantee date, allowing the Sixers to utilize his non-guaranteed salary in a trade. Philadelphia could simply pick up the option and conduct the trade that way, though, in either scenario, they’d likely need to send out additional salary to match Lowry’s projected new deal.
Lowry isn’t taking a major pay cut to come to Philadelphia, especially with teams like Miami possessing the cap space to sign him outright. The Raptors will also make a push to keep their veteran point guard in Toronto and several other teams are expected to get in the mix as well.
