Kyle Lowry

Chicago Bulls Receive: G Kyle Lowry, F Stanley Johnson

Toronto Raptors Receive: F Otto Porter Jr, Wendell Carter Jr, CHI 2021 1st Round Pick, CHI 2021 2nd Round Pick, CHI 2025 1st Round Pick

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.

Kyle Lowry 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. 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.

Now more than ever would be the time to trade Kyle Lowry from Toronto’s perspective, especially after signing Fred VanVleet to a four-year, $85 million contract extension this offseason. With VanVleet playing at the highest level of his career, Norman Powell putting together the best season of his young career, and after drafting Malachi Flynn late in the first round, the Raptors look to be preparing for their future without Lowry.

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 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.

Seeing as they have plenty of frontcourt issues, the Raptors could be very interested in both Wendell Carter Jr. and Lauri Markkenen. Obviously, Chicago will want to keep White and LaVine to pair with 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.

RELATED: NBA Trade Rumors: 3 intriguing trade scenarios for Raptors to consider for Kyle Lowry

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.

Trading Kyle Lowry to the Bulls gives the Raptors the best chance at not only remaining relevant now, but sustaining a young core moving forward. 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.