NBA Rumors: Heat Could Trade Justise Winslow And Three Other Players For Kyle Lowry, Per ‘Bleacher Report’
The successful acquisition of Jimmy Butler in the 2019 NBA free agency has undeniably put the Miami Heat in a win-now mode. However, in order to have a legitimate chance to fully dominate the Eastern Conference and contend for the NBA championship title in the 2019-20 NBA season, the Heat should highly prioritize adding at least one more legitimate NBA superstar to their roster.
In his recent article, Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report created several NBA trade scenarios that would enable the Heat to give Jimmy Butler some help in the 2019-20 NBA season. According to Buckley, one of the players that the Heat could target before the February NBA trade deadline is Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors. In the proposed trade deal by Bleacher Report, the Heat will be sending a trade package including Justise Winslow, Goran Dragic, Meyers Leonard, and Derrick Jones Jr. to the Raptors in exchange for Lowry and Norman Powell.
The deal works on ESPN‘s NBA Trade Machine. Kyle Lowry may have already shown some decline with his performance in the past two years, but he remains an All-Star caliber point guard who helped the Raptors win their first NBA championship title in the 2018-19 NBA season. The potential addition of Lowry would boost the Heat’s performance on both ends of the floor, giving them a very reliable second scoring option next to Jimmy Butler and someone who could defend elite point guards in the league.
Last season, Kyle Lowry averaged 14.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 8.7 assists, and 1.4 steals while shooting 41.1 percent from the field and 34.7 percent from beyond the arc. With his experience playing with ball-dominant superstars like DeMar DeRozan and Kawhi Leonard, Lowry won’t definitely have a hard time making himself fit alongside Jimmy Butler in Miami.
If the trade becomes a reality, Buckley believes that the move would not only be beneficial for the Heat but also for the Raptors, especially if they finally decide to undergo a rebuilding process.
“The Raptors would accept their fate as Kawhi Leonard-less rebuilders and add to their expanding wing collection with Winslow, a turbo-charged version of their Stanley Johnson and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson additions. Derrick Jones Jr. would make this frontcourt even faster and more explosive. With Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby already in place, Toronto could be assembling an army of do-it-all stoppers. The expiring deals of Dragic and Leonard would ensure Toronto still clears most of the money Lowry’s would have cleared, and one or both might become a trade chip between now and February.”
Although it would be intriguing to see Kyle Lowry pair with Jimmy Butler in Miami, the veteran point guard hasn’t shown any signs that he’s no longer happy with the Raptors. Also, according to a previous The Inquisitr article, the Raptors are currently not entertaining offers for Lowry and other veterans like Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka.
