Masai Ujiri and the Toronto Raptors knew that March 25, 2021, was going to be a whirlwind. While they had essentially deemed that they would be sellers at the deadline, it wasn’t clear where exactly they would be selling.
The two hot ticket items in Raptor Land – Kyle Lowry and Norman Powell.
Powell was dealt to the Portland Trail Blazers in a deal that had Gary Trent Jr. and Rodney Hood coming back. While there was still a few hours remaining before the 3pm ET deadline, a deal for Kyle Lowry never fully materialized.
As soon as it was reported that the Raps would be keeping Lowry, Raptors fans pummeled Twitter with opinions. Some were thankful not to have lost their franchise icon, while others think the Raps missed an opportunity to acquire assets in return for an expiring contract.
For Masai, one of the contributing factors was that he didn’t want to do wrong by Lowry himself.
While we don’t have much insight into how the conversations actually unfolded, Masai has always been an executive that looks out for his players. Lowry will now finish the season with the Raps before becoming a free agent, and that’s as far as our crystal ball is showing us.
That goes for Ujiri's future with the Raps as well.
