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Kyle Lowry is coming home.
The Philly native and Villanova product will sign with the Sixers after being bought out by the Charlotte Hornets, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Lowry himself seemed to confirm the news on Instagram.
Back on Jan. 23, the Heat traded Lowry to the Hornets in the deal that sent Terry Rozier to Miami. Lowry never reported to Charlotte as the team worked on re-routing the veteran guard to no avail.
A ball handler to back up and play with Tyrese Maxey has seemingly been a priority for the Sixers all season. Patrick Beverley had done well in that role, but Lowry brings a bit more punch offensively. With De’Anthony Melton’s back issues keeping him out of the lineup for so long, adding another guard to the mix felt important, even with the addition of Cameron Payne at the deadline.
The 37-year-old has plenty of ties to the Sixers. Aside from being a North Philly native, Lowry won a championship under Sixers head coach Nick Nurse in Toronto. Daryl Morey also traded for Lowry while he was an executive in Houston. It was during Lowry’s tenure as a Rocket where he established himself as a NBA starter. Morey would flip Lowry to the Raptors, where he became a perennial All-Star, for a first-round pick.
It’s fair to wonder how much Lowry still has left in the tank. He played a key role off the bench last season as the Heat made an improbable run to the NBA Finals. He was still shooting at a strong clip this season, hitting 38.5% from three on a healthy volume (4.4). And he still continued to be a solid playmaker at 4.0 assists in 28.0 minutes per game. The key thing to remember is you don’t need him to be the player he was in Toronto. Playing like he did in last year’s postseason would be huge for the Sixers.
We’ll keep you posted on when you can expect Lowry to make his Sixers debut.
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