Raptors' Masai Ujiri, Kyle Lowry expand on February meeting about DeRozan trade

Masai Ujiri’s masterstroke of trading DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a first-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green will be lionized forever, after it paved the way for the Raptors’ first NBA title ever.

Hindsight is 20/20, of course, but Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry didn’t always see the move that way, and met with Ujiri for two hours mid-season to hash out their differences regarding the transaction.

Lowry is on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week. In a profile written by Chris Mannix detailing both the point guard’s rise to prominence and championship season, the previous tension regarding the DeRozan trade between the Raptors’ star and president was underscored.

“It was a tough meeting,” Ujiri said to Mannix. “We both expressed how we felt. And then we started to reason.”

Ujiri spoke on Lowry and a number of other topics during his media availability Tuesday, and said the pair are similarly wired.

Lowry also provided his account of the February meeting to Mannix, saying it helped turn the Raptors’ season around.

“We needed to voice our opinions to each other, face-to-face,” Lowry said. “My emotional side as a friend—yes, I definitely was upset [about the trade]. My best friend is upset, so I’m upset. But the business side of it is like, ‘Listen, you’re getting the top one or two basketball players in the world in Kawhi Leonard. I knew how talented he is.' We had to make sure we were on the same page. And we were.”

Lowry and DeRozan remain best friends, and the latter appears to be happy with the Spurs, while the Raptors celebrate all summer. After playing the game of his career in the title-clinching Game 6, Lowry can rest easy, too, knowing that a once-painful decision led to the elusive title he was searching for.

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