Sports
NBA Rumors: Kyle Lowry Trade Was Eyed by Suns Before Damian Lillard, Bucks Deal – Bleacher Report
Miami Heat guard Kyle Lowry was nearly involved in the Damian Lillard trade.
On the latest episode of the #thisleague Uncut podcast, Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes reported that the Phoenix Suns expressed interest in Lowry and that the trade could have featured him if Lillard was sent to the Heat.
“I was told that Phoenix was very interested in Kyle Lowry,” Haynes said. “I think that’s why Dame always held out hope that Portland at last minute would go back to Miami with some potential offer on the table. Something that would send Lowry to Phoenix… It just never panned out.”
Lillard’s preferred destination was Miami, but the Portland Trail Blazers weren’t interested in the packages that the Heat offered. Considering that the Suns were involved in the final deal, it appears that this solution could have happened as well.
The Suns wound up getting Jusuf Nurkic, Grayson Allen, Nassir Little and Keon Johnson in the deal, but Lowry would certainly have been an intriguing option for the contending team. While he is not the six-time All-Star that he once was, he played a solid role for the Miami Heat in 2022-23, averaging 11.2 points, 5.1 assists and 4.1 rebounds in 55 regular season games.
He had a great presence off of the bench for the Heat in the playoffs, playing in 23 games and averaging 9.2 points, 4.4 assists and 3.5 rebounds as the team reached the NBA Finals an the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Heat surely like having the 37-year-old as a depth piece, but the allure of adding Lillard would surely have made him expendable. However, the plethora of pieces the Suns got may have been worth it, especially since Lowry’s $29.6 million owed would have taken up more financial cost.