Kyle Lowry
Since joining the Toronto Raptors in 2012, Kyle Lowry has been one of the faces of the franchise and one of the main contributors to their success over the years. Every single season since the 2014-15 season, Lowry has been named an All-Star and he was instrumental in the Raptors’ journey to capturing their first championship in franchise history.
He has done everything right in his career and while he is 34 years old now, he is still playing at a high level and barring no major injuries or setbacks, he could be set up for success for four or five more years. Kyle Lowry is a proven leader and while the Raptors have loved what he has done for them over the years, they do need to take into account that he is an aging veteran whose value is as high as it will ever be.
The one thing the Bulls have that other potential trade destinations for Kyle Lowry do not have is young talent. Coby White, Zach LaVine, Wendell Carter Jr, Lauri Markkanen, and rookie Patrick Williams make up the youthful core of the Bulls and while they have failed to eclipse 30 wins for three consecutive seasons, they are heading in the right direction as a franchise.
White is the future point guard of this team and offers a lot of upside moving forward, but if the Bulls truly want to maximize their efforts to win now, they will execute a trade to bring Kyle Lowry to Chicago.
The Bulls have plenty of options on how to make this potential trade work and they could make out very well depending on how they go about it. The obvious trade for the Bulls to make would send Otto Porter Jr. to Toronto, given that he is owed $28.4 million this season, and trading him would give Patrick Williams more experience and playing time, but the Raptors may want some of the Bulls’ youth in return.
Obviously, Chicago will want to keep Coby White and Zach LaVine to pair with Kyle Lowry in the back-court, but Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter Jr. are two names who could be included in a trade package for Lowry. This offseason, the Bulls and Markkanen failed to reach an agreement on a long-term extension and Carter Jr. is a name that they dangled around in trade talks.
Packaging either of these two guys up with a player like Tomas Satoransky, another young talent, and few draft picks could be a lucrative offer for the Raptors and something they highly consider.
The Raptors’ strength is their depth in the back-court and on the wing, but they do have some holes to fill in their front-court next to Pascal Siakam, especially after they lost both Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka in free agency. Getting a young front-court player in either Markkanen or Carter Jr. could go a long way in the future success of the Raptors and also help them continue to be one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference.
Acquiring Kyle Lowry would give the Bulls a player to lean on other than just Zach LaVine and could really open up things on the offensive end of the court in terms of production. The Bulls have the young assets to be able to offer numerous trade deals to Toronto and ultimately, too many good deals for the Raptors to turn down.
