Kyle Lowry was heavily conflicted after Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri decided to trade his brother in arms in DeMar DeRozan to the San Antonio Spurs in a blockbuster deal for Kawhi Leonard. Yet the 6-foot floor general never actually asked for a trade upon his best friend's departure:
“I didn’t ask for a trade. I wanted to be here,” said Lowry, according to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. “I felt like the situation that I could be successful in. I felt like Masai [Ujiri] has given me the opportunity to grow as an individual. And as a basketball player, I’m not about forcing anything. After everything that happened, I am just going to do my job. If they want to trade me, trade me. If they want me here, I will be here. And that’s my job. I get paid handsomely to play basketball. I am going to go out there and do what I want to do to win games.”
Lowry was clearly hurt by Ujiri's choice to trade DeRozan, as the two didn't speak for months until the former called a sit-down meeting for the two to air things out. Lowry bought in, and the Raptors have gone full steam ahead ever since.
The 33-year-old was partly thankful to Ujiri for signing him to a three-year, $100 million deal in 2017, one that paid him $31 million this season and will dole out another $33.3 million next season.
In addition to that, Lowry has already netted an extra $1.2 million in likely bonuses and can stand to make another $200,000 by holding the Larry O'Brien Trophy at season's end.
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