Kyle Lowry agrees to contract buyout, clearing way for him to sign with 76ers

Longtime Toronto Raptor and veteran guard Kyle Lowry is heading to his hometown team after agreeing to a buyout with the Charlotte Hornets, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The 37-year-old vet played high school basketball for Cardinal Dougherty High School in North Philly and played his college years for Villanova. He grew up in Philadelphia and only finally moved away when he was drafted in 2006.

He spent the early years of his career with the Memphis Grizzlies, where he struggled to find minutes in a strong Memphis backcourt that included Mike Conley. In 2009, Lowry was traded to the Houston Rockets where he would gain the starting job and began to earn respect for his play in his tenure there. When Houston traded him to Toronto in 2012, the future wasn’t clear and questions lay if he was ready to step up and give the Raptors success. In his 9 seasons with the Raptors, Lowry was a 6-time All-Star and in 2016 received an All-NBA 3rd Team selection. In the 2018-2019 season, the Raptors, who were then led by now-76ers Head Coach Nick Nurse, brought home a championship after defeating the Golden State Warriors in 6 games.

Kyle Lowry’s run in Toronto came to an end in 2021 when the Raptors dealt him for Goran Dragic in a sign-and-trade with the Miami Heat. Lowry spent 2 and a half years in Miami, making it to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2022 and making it all the way to the NBA Finals as an 8-seed in 2023.

In late January of 2024, Miami traded Lowry and a first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets for Terry Rozier, and his contract was subsequently bought out. Daryl Morey jumped on the opportunity to sign Lowry, after recently trading Marcus Morris, Patrick Beverley, and Furkan Korkmaz, leaving 3 spots open for free agents. On February 10th, Philadelphia and Lowry agreed to a 1-year, $2.8 million contract.

Lowry is going to be a backup to Tyrese Maxey, but he could be the 6th man if Nick Nurse decides he’d rather play him than Cam Payne. He could also find his way into the starting lineup should Maxey get injured. Either way, this is a great signing by Daryl Morey and makes up for some bad moves he’s made in the past.