Hardwood Paroxysm Presents: The NBA Playoff Super-Overreactionizer

The Raptors Need to Trade Kyle Lowry

By Dan Lewis (@minutemandan) – Hardwood Paroxysm

As the Raptors leave The North to head down to the country where basketball is still played at an elite level, they are staring at the looming threat of being swept by a team lead by John Wall and coached by someone who can’t figure out how to use a greaseboard. 

For a team that dominated the Atlantic Division easily, a playoff sweep in the first round is disappointing. So disappointing, in fact, that Masai Ujiri will have no choice but to clean house and start over, or risk having the sad sack of suck that currently smells up the roster continue to fester in the Air Canada Centre. Keep Kyle Lowry, the teams supposed leader, for another season, and the fans won’t be calling just their coins loonies.

How bad has Kyle Lowry been in the playoffs this year? How does a PER of 1.0 sound – for comparison, Deron Williams has a PER of 8.6, and is terrible. Lowry leads the team in fouls, with 10 in the series. His next made 3-point attempt will be his first of the series. He’s been horrendous on offense, and the Raptors have an Offensive Rating of 67 when he’s been on the court. It’s come down to this:

Look at the Mavericks and Rajon Rondo. They took a risk with Rajon Rondo, it hasn’t worked out, and Rick Carlisle is discussing an alibi with his agent in case Rondo goes missing. Rondo is just 31 days older than Lowry, and they are both less than a year away from 30, the age where point guards go the way of Jarrett Jack and Deron Williams and fade into irrelevance and memes. You only look cool with a giant panther tattoo for so long before you have to grow a beard and start drinking yourself into retirement.

Where should Ujiri look? Get Charlotte on the phone and try to negotiate a trade for Kemba Walker. It may mean taking on Lance Stephenson’s salary, but at least he provides the option to bottom out for draft picks. Maybe try Denver, see if Ty Lawson, an underrated veteran on an affordable contract, could be pried from the Mile High City. Ujiri could even take a gamble at quickly reloading and toss in the rights to the the less favorable 2016 first-round pick from the Knicks-Nuggets swap, giving Denver another pick to help them rebuild.

So accept the inevitable Toronto – your contending team is a figment of your imagination, a vain aspiration that you delusionally accepted. Get rid of Lowry while you can, and pray that other teams just act like this playoff series never happened.

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