Point guard Kyle Lowry has agreed to a three-year, $100 million deal to return to the Toronto Raptors, according to Shams Charania of the Vertical.
The All-Star point guard announced his return to the Toronto Raptors in a self-written piece titled “Home” in The Players' Tribune.
“At the end of the day, this was an easy decision,” wrote Lowry. “And all of those roads… They all led me back to Toronto.”
Lowry reportedly struggled to make his decision, thinking about all the factors that could contribute to a successful equation with his current team — but a hefty offer of a $30 million-plus annual salary had all the intentions of convincing the 31-year-old to stay home.
After letting swingman P.J. Tucker leave for the Houston Rockets on Saturday, the Raptors brawn put pen to paper and inked forward/center Serge Ibaka to a deal earlier today, and capitalized on that commitment by signing their floor general to a substantial contract.
Toronto is expected to make subsequent salary-clearing moves to honor this deal with Lowry, as his' and Ibaka's deal both expire in the summer of 2020, when swingman DeMar DeRozan can opt out. The organization is expected to dump at least one, if not two salaries in order to make the room necessary — being $13-to-17 million over the cap as it is, according to Eric Koreen of The Athletic.
A prime candidate to get shipped out of town is 7-footer Jonas Valanciunas, given Ibaka's interest in playing the center position moving forward — which could lead to the team playing a smaller lineup this upcoming season.
The Raptors will have an exact three-year window to move forward with this roster construction based around these three players.
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