Kyle Lowry did not attempt to hide his frustration when the Toronto Raptors traded DeMar DeRozan to the San Antonio Spurs last year in a deal that landed them Kawhi Leonard, so it’s no surprise that his relationship with team president Masai Ujiri appeared to become icy. Earlier this season, the two made an effort to work out their differences.
Lowry told Shams Charania of The Athletic this week that he had a formal sit-down with Ujiri in the days leading up to the Feb. 7 trade deadline. It was the first time the two had direct contact since DeRozan was traded, and Lowry said the discussion went a long way toward smoothing things over.
“It was a well-needed conversation,” Lowry told Charania. “It was a very professional conversation and it had to be done. We had to get everything on the table.”
At the time, Lowry’s name had been mentioned in possible trade scenarios involving Marc Gasol and Mike Conley Jr. However, Lowry insists the meeting had nothing to do with him being concerned over those rumors.
“It wasn’t a ‘F— you, f— you.’ It wasn’t me asking, ‘Hell, you want to trade me?’ At the end of the day, he’s going to make the decisions, right?” Lowry said. I’m going to play no matter what it is. It was about making myself the best player that I can possibly be and getting on the same page about what he needs from me to be the best player — and vice versa. Just getting on the same page.”
The Raptors ended up landing Gasol, of course, but Lowry was not part of the deal. That worked out for the best, as the point guard is a big reason why Toronto is two wins away from reaching the Eastern Conference Finals.
Lowry admitted to Charania that it can make things worse to “dwell on things that you don’t need to dwell on,” which was an obvious reference to his frustration with the DeRozan trade. While Ujiri tried his best to downplay the bad blood, it obviously existed.
From a basketball standpoint, it’s hard to argue that Ujiri made the wrong move. Leonard is averaging 38.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game in Toronto’s series against the Philadelphia 76ers. You can easily make the argument that he has been the best player in the playoffs.
