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Raptors fans: Move on from the Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade

With Goran Dragic off the roster and Thaddeus Young slated to debut with Toronto in the coming days, some Raptors fans decided to revisit the Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade and question if management got enough in return for the greatest Raptor in franchise history. It’s time to stop

Video Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]

- Lowry for 3. Bang!

- That was nasty.

- Hey.

- He had that look, didn't he?

- Tell me he's not aggressive tonight.

- Lowry all the way to the cup, and the foul!

- Where would they be? Where would this Raptors team be?

IMMAN ADAN: So something that a lot of people were on about that I just want to get off my chest is the Kyle Lowry deal, OK? So we are not a year removed from the trade deadline, 'cause last year's trade deadline, of course, happened on Kyle's birthday, in March. But still, when you don't trade-- and I'm just speaking into the ether-- when do you do not trade Kyle Lowry at the deadline, you are deciding, OK, we are letting him walk.

That's the decision that is made, and I think that's a fine one. I think it's a fair one to say, we're gonna do right by Kyle. They didn't do right by DeMar DeRozan. We're gonna do right by Kyle.

And if that's the decision that you make at the deadline, and you're not taking whatever is being offered-- and who knows what's being offered? But if you're not taking that, and you're letting him walk, you are deciding that you are fine risking him leaving for nothing. Doesn't guarantee that he's gonna leave for nothing, but you are fine doing that.

And when you trade him to the Miami Heat-- they literally are charged with tampering violations. This is a team that we know he wanted to go to. We know they wanted him. We know that they conspired before he even got to free agency. So when you as the Raptors decide that you want to do right by him, and you're OK with that, then you're also OK getting nothing back.

So this idea that Masai Ujiri lost the trade or the Raptors lost the trade, which I see Heat fans keep tweeting-- no, no, no, no, no. They did Kyle Lowry a favor. And you can be upset that they did Kyle Lowry a favor. You could say, that's not the way that management is supposed to handle players who are assets, technically, and you can have fault with that. That's fine.

But the idea that he lost the trade is just not correct. He just did Kyle a favor and ended up with Precious Achiuwa and now Thaddeus Young.

SANDRA APPIAH: When it comes to the Raptors-- 'cause I've seen a lot of Raptors fans say the same thing-- I think we have this idea now that whenever Masai makes a trade, he has to be the winner of said trade. And so, to see that we essentially have gotten a project in Precious, and then Thad, who's likely gonna just be a short-term fix, just feels like a loss, right? But I always say this. You just never know how these things are going to work out.

IMMAN ADAN: I think that's fair. But then, also, you didn't want to do Kyle a favor. Then, the issue is less that Masai Ujiri lost the trade, and the issue is more, why are we doing what Kyle wanted of us? Why didn't we just trade him to get the most back?

And that's not what the Raptors wanted to do. They decided that that's not the route that they wanted to go to. They didn't want to take the best offer that was out there. They wanted to do right by Kyle.

And doing right by Kyle meant Miami. And if Miami knew that they could get him in the offseason, and they didn't have to give up anything to do it-- they just had to clear up--

SANDRA APPIAH: Of course they're gonna do it.

IMMAN ADAN: --cap room, why would they be giving up more than they--

SANDRA APPIAH: Need to.

IMMAN ADAN: They could have just signed him. He was a free agent, literal free agent, and could have gone anywhere. So you don't make the deal at the deadline, then you're fine letting him walk.

Sign-and-trades should not be treated as the same. They should be traded as two different things, especially when you're just doing right by Kyle, and Kyle's saying, oh, I'm just gonna not-- LeBron did it when he left for Miami. Chris Bosh did it when he left for Miami. All they're saying is, I'm not gonna leave and leave you with nothing, so at least did a little bit back for me, which is what Kyle did, which is a favor to the Toronto Raptors.

And that's exactly what DeMar DeRozan did with the San Antonio Spurs. And just to bring all of it full-circle, DeMar DeRozan signed and traded from the Spurs to the Bulls for Thaddeus Young. Goran Dragic was the return from the Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade to the Miami Heat, and now Goran Dragic and Thad Young were just traded for each other. So that's a nice Kyle-and-DeMar action right there.

SANDRA APPIAH: They're always moving around each other.

IMMAN ADAN: It worked out perfectly. I like that.

SANDRA APPIAH: That's cute. That's cute. Besties forever, or whatever.

IMMAN ADAN: Basically, basically.

SANDRA APPIAH: No, you make a good point. I think we do need to start seeing that Kyle trade a little differently. We did Kyle a favor. He's going to come back as a Raptor and finish off his career here. You don't want to have bad blood.

You don't want to send him to God-knows-where just so you can get a good player back. It's Kyle, right? He's the cornerstone here.

IMMAN ADAN: And he already did that. Masai did that already, and that went over pretty poorly, even though they won a championship.

SANDRA APPIAH: They're still talking about it three years later, right? DeMar's clearly still upset about it. The conversation still comes up.

If you have the greatest Raptor of all time, you do not treat him the way that DeMar was treated. You just don't. You take your L. Yeah, you're not gonna get back what you could have gotten back for him, but that's something that you're willing to deal with, because he's a cornerstone of your franchise, and that's it.

IMMAN ADAN: So I know I was just getting really frustrated with that, but I think my thing is just, did you want him to leave for nothing? 'Cause that's the alternative if you're making a deal on July 1. He leaves for nothing, or you get a smidgen of something back.

SANDRA APPIAH: Something.

IMMAN ADAN: And the Raptors got a smidgen of something back, which is better than him leaving for nothing, but nowhere comparable to a trade that happens midseason or anything like that. So that's just my beef and my bones with that.