Top 10 players setting themselves up to be overpaid
By Robert Judin
2. Kyle Lowry
The Toronto Raptors found a gem with point guard Kyle Lowry when they acquired him from the Houston Rockets after the 2011-12 season.
Lowry had a slow start with the Memphis Grizzlies, as he averaged just 8.6 points per game in just more than two seasons. He was traded to the Rockets in the middle of his third year.
It wasn’t until his third year with Houston that Lowry finally broke past the 10-points-per-game mark. He continued to play very well for the Rockets. He averaged 11.5 points and 5.6 assists per game in four seasons with Houston. He even bumped up to 35 percent shooting from behind the three-point line.
Lowry maintained those kind of numbers with the Raptors and even made the Eastern Conference all-star team last year for the first time.
But, similar to his teammate DeMar DeRozan, the problem is the surplus of elite guards in the league.
Unlike DeRozan, Lowry is already approaching 30 years old. Even though he’s entering this season slimmed down and in the best shape of his career, how many point guards do you know who continue their prime past 30 years old?
Even if Lowry did maintain his level of play for the next four years, he’s still not an elite point guard. Like DeRozan, he’s in the very, very good range, but he’s not in the same realm as Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving, or Chris Paul. Yet, because it’s a guard-heavy league, Lowry will be the beneficiary of a bidding war when he hits free agency, which he can enter after the 2016-17 season if he declines his player option for the 2017-18 season.
Lowry is star who could possibly get superstar money.
Next: 1. Andre Drummond