UPDATE:
Apparently Ric Bucher made up the entire sign-and-trade rumor thanks to what he says was bad sourcing.
My deepest and sincere apologies. My report on Lowry and a S&T between the Raptors-Heat is wrong. I should've known better. I could not...
— Ric Bucher (@RicBucher) June 27, 2014
END UPDATE
Last night we heard a rumored trade that would send Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry to the Miami Heat in exchange for Norris Cole and other possible considerations. The deal that was just a rumor has apparently picked up steam overnight and it now reportedly ‘imminent’.
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According to NBA scribe Ric Bucher, the Heat and Raptors have an agreement in principal that will complete the rumored trade from last night in which Kyle Lowry will head to the Miami Heat.
"An agreement in principle on a deal that would send point guard Kyle Lowry from the Toronto Raptors to the Miami Heat is “imminent,” a league source with direct knowledge of the negotiations said Friday.The deal, which will consist of the Raptors signing and trading Lowry in exchange for Heat point guard Norris Cole, cash and a combination of future draft picks, can’t be officially consummated until sometime after July 1"
The reason the trade can’t be made official at the moment isn’t because the two sides are still squabbling over semantics, rather because the Heat don’t have the cap space to acquire Lowry at this moment. Once LeBron James is officially off the books and Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh hit the open market as well, the Heat will have the cap space to complete the sign-and-trade for Lowry.
They’ll be sending Norris Cole back to Toronto and with Mario Chalmers hitting free agency as well, the Heat will have a brand new backcourt in Lowry and Shabazz Napier heading into the 2014-15 season.