NBA Rumors: LA Clippers Could Acquire Kyle Lowry For Four Players In Proposed Blockbuster Trade
More than a month before the 2021 trade deadline, rumors have started to swirl around veteran point guard Kyle Lowry and his future with the Toronto Raptors. Though the Raptors have managed to find their way back in the playoff race, there’s a growing belief around the league that Lowry’s departure is inevitable. Lowry may already be on the downside of his career, but once he becomes officially available on the trading block, he’s expected to receive strong interest from teams that are in dire need of a backcourt boost and an additional star on their roster.
One of the potential suitors for Lowry is the Los Angeles Clippers. Of all the teams that could go after the veteran point guard, Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report believes that the Clippers have a “cleaner path” to acquire him. In the proposed scenario that would send him to L.A., Fischer suggested that the Clippers could offer the Raptors a package that includes Lou Williams, Patrick Beverley, Ivica Zubac, and Mfiondu Kabengele.
“Los Angeles has made it widely known that Lou Williams is available, sources said, and there’s a cohort in that front office ready to move on from Patrick Beverley as well—although the Clippers have been more in the market for a mid-tier guard than someone like Lowry, sources said. Adding someone of Lowry’s caliber, however, would boost L.A.’s best punch against the West’s other heavyweights. The Clippers could add Ivica Zubac and Mfiondu Kabengele to a Beverley-Williams package to make the salaries match, and that return would bring Toronto two young big men to fill the hole up front.”
Lowry would be an interesting addition to the Clippers. Aside from successfully creating their own “Big Three,” his arrival in Los Angeles would also enable them to fulfill Kawhi Leonard’s request of adding a starting-caliber point guard to their roster. Though he’s already 34, Lowry is capable of filling the holes Williams and Beverley would be leaving in the Clippers’ backcourt.
He would give them a very reliable third scoring option behind Leonard and Paul George, as well as a great playmaker, rebounder, perimeter defender, and floor-spacer. This season, he’s averaging 17.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists, and 1.0 steal while shooting 42.6 percent from the field and 36.9 percent from beyond the arc, per ESPN. Fischer thinks that the successful acquisition of Lowry would give the Clippers a better chance of beating Western Conference powerhouse teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and the Utah Jazz in a best-of-seven series.
Meanwhile, the proposed deal would also make a lot of sense for the Raptors, especially if they no longer have any plans of giving Lowry a new contract next offseason. Instead of losing him in the 2021 free agency without getting anything in return, they would be turning his expiring contract into two veteran guards in Williams and Beverley, and two young and promising big men in Zubac and Kabengele.
