Raptors' Kyle Lowry was almost traded to New York Knicks

After signing a four-year, $48 million dollar deal this offsesaon, Kyle Lowry won’t be leaving the Toronto Raptors for quite a while. Though according to some, Lowry was this close to being traded to the New York Knicks during last season’s February trade deadline.

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Fearing they would not be able to re-sign Kyle Lowry during the offseason, the Toronto Raptors were said to have put the point guard on the trade block. They got multiple bites, but the team was winning and the offers weren’t exactly over the moon. Given both factors, the Raptors decided they were going to keep Kyle Lowry for the rest of the season and push towards the playoffs.

It proved to be a wonderful choice by Toronto general manager Masai Ujiri who not only built a playoff caliber roster, he was also able to re-sign Lowry at season end. A far cry from what nearly took place as according to Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling, Kyle Lowry was a first-round pick away from playing in the Big Apple.

"According to a source familiar with the Raptors’ thinking, there were three likely scenarios on the table involving Knicks guards Iman Shumpert and Tim Hardaway Jr., with Lowry being the only Raptors player in the deal. The clincher would have been a future first-round pick to the Raptors, but team owner James Dolan vetoed it and the trade fell through, a denial confirmed by a source close to the Knicks."

In fairness to Dolan, he’s probably tired of the Knicks lacking first round picks and wasn’t going to give up another, though it’s likely a bitter pill to swallow for fans.

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Raptors’ Kyle Lowry was almost traded to New York Knicks

By Bryan Rose | Aug 2, 2014