Free agent point guard Kyle Lowry has agreed to a four-year $48 million contract to remain with the Toronto Raptors, according to Sportsnet’s Michael Grange.
Lowry was the Raptors’ top off-season priority after he led the team to the post-season for the first time since 2008, according to Raptors GM Masai Ujiri.
“It’s very important [to re-sign Lowry] in terms of continuity,” Ujiri said in May. “Kyle has had a phenomenal year. I thought Kyle was a huge, huge key to our season. For me, negotiating is easy if we want Kyle to be here and Kyle wants to be here.”
The 28-year-old had a borderline all-star 2013-14 campaign that saw him put together career-high numbers in points per game (17.9), assists per game (7.4), rebounds per game (4.7) and three-point field goal percentage (38 percent).
The Raptors point guard was an unrestricted free agent starting from 12:01 a.m. on July 1 and fielded an offer from the Houston Rockets before deciding to remain with the Raptors.
Lowry was first brought to Toronto in a trade with the Rockets in the summer of 2012 for Gary Forbes and first-round pick.
With Lowry locked up, the Raptors will now turn their attention to restricted free agents Patrick Patterson and Grievis Vasquez — two important pieces to Toronto’s turnaround following the Rudy Gay trade.
Earlier in the week, the Raptors traded John Salmons and a second-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks for veteran scoring guard Lou Williams and seven-foot Brazilian Lucas “Bebe” Nogueira, as well as pick up the option on reserve big man Tyler Hansbrough’s contract.
— With files from the Canadian Press
