There's no denying that Kyle Lowry played a key role for the Miami Heat last season in his debut year with the team. However, it's also a fact that injuries held back the six-time All-Star — particularly in the playoffs.
An unnamed Eastern Conference executive recently sat down with Thomas Darro of heavy.com, and he dropped a rather contentious truth bomb on the Heat. According to the anonymous source, the Heat was better with Gabe Vincent on the lineup as opposed to Lowry:
“Go back and watch them in the playoffs last year. I think the dirty little secret there is that they were better with Gabe Vincent on the floor than with Kyle Lowry,” the executive said. “Now, to be fair to Lowry, he was not healthy, that was obvious. But on the other side, they were really good with Vincent in there. He did not play lights-out, but he could get the ball to Jimmy (Butler) and get out of the way, then play some defense on the other side. So they’re fine with him as the backup.”
As the executive said, however, Lowry clearly wasn't a hundred percent in the postseason, and this was a major factor in his lackluster display for the Heat.
Lowry, 36, is no spring chicken, and his health has been an issue over the past few years. According to the source, Lowry's injuries could be a major issue for the Heat this coming season:
“The problem is, if Lowry has trouble staying healthy again, you’re going to have Herro playing backup point guard and Oladipo playing backup point guard. That’s not the ideal setup,” the executive said. “But they’re more concerned about the tax right now so I don’t see them making any real changes.”
Kyle Lowry still has two more years remaining on his current deal, and he's set to pocket close to $30 million per season through 2024. It goes without saying that the Heat are fully committed to him and at this point, all they can hope for is for Lowry to remain relatively healthy throughout the 2022-23 season.
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