Kyle Lowry Stays North

Kyle Lowry had a breakout season for the Toronto Raptors leading them to the three seed in the Eastern Conference. Raptors nearly advanced to the second round for the first time in over 10 years, but Brooklyn slipped past in Game 7. Much of the question is would this be a one-year flash in the pan because Lowry was an unrestricted free agent this summer. People thought he could be headed to Miami or other big-name destinations. Lowry decided to stay with the team with a four-year deal for 48 million dollars. Toronto might be taking a little risk, but he is vital to the Raptors' success.

Whenever a team signs a free agent or re-signs a player, there is always some danger unless your name is LeBron James. Lowry had a career year for Toronto after taking a slight stepback in his first year with Toronto. But he became the glue for this team. DeMar DeRozan gets the 'star' tag, but in reality, it is Lowry whose been the key cog to this team despite DeRozan scoring more than him. Lowry and DeRozan together is a lethal duo in the league. Arguably, one of the best 1-2 guard punches in basketball. It is hard to think of player in the league whom could replace his value.

Lowry was a top ten player when it comes to Win Shares last season with 11.7 and Win Shares per 48 minutes. There is no way Toronto could replace Lowry with the same type of player. Eleven wins for the Raptors team makes the difference from being a three seed to being an eight seed. Lowry also was a top ten player in assists, assists per game and three-point percentage. Lowry had a career season, no question about it, but there is nothing to think this is a one-time thing. He never got a chance to be 'the man' on a team, and Lowry finally got his opportunity which he seized to a brand-spanking new contract.

One of the reasons why this string of success will continue for Lowry is his increased free throws per game. It is sort of a basic stat, but for his career, he averaged only about 3.8 free throws attempts per game where as in 2014, Lowry shot one more free throw a game. It doesn't really show up in terms of attacking the basket, but he balanced his two's and three's to have the highest two-point percentage of his career since 2010-2011 season.  Further, it helped his three-point shooting was better than year's past as well. I wouldn't call Lowry a three-point shooter and we never know if this is a one year thing for him. That's something to keep an eye on next season.

The other thing that cannot go under the radar is the Raptors are building something big with their team. DeRozan is only 24, coming off a career year.  Terrence Ross is only 23, and he built on his rookie season where he went into double-digits last season. Amir Johnson averaged 10 points for the second consecutive season and is still young at 27. Most importantly, Jonas Valanciunas is on the verge of being a star. I could see a breakout season for him next season. Lowry is the captain and the technical veteran of this young team. Why wouldn't you want to be the lead guy for this group?

Toronto could be set for the future with Lowry and the young guns in place for a couple years. The Eastern Conference is not hard to be one of the big boys, and most teams are in doubt of what their roster will really look like in October right now. But T. Dot is all set and ready to contend for an Atlantic Division title again.

Charlie.

LeBron's Opt-Out is a Smart, Calculated Decision

A typhoon hit Twitter on Tuesday morning when ESPN had a story saying LeBron James opted out of his contract with the Miami Heat making him an unrestricted free agent. This led to people vomiting overreactions all over Twitter with Photoshop pictures of LeBron playing for different teams as well as wondering how things will all fit. This is the silly season right now about James. He is only becoming a free agent to rework a contract to bring in some high level free agents.  LeBron does have some options outside of Miami, and some team could sweep in with a Godfather offer yet it seems like Miami is still the destination.

 With how the Big Three is structured right now, Miami cannot really afford to get a big-name free agent. They still probably couldn't get a Carmelo Anthony, but if things were structured the right way, they could make a run at a Kyle Lowry which would be a massive upgrade to Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole. The reason LeBron wants to do this in order to have all the options on the table, and he wants control of the roster which is something James deserves at this time of his career. If you call him selfish, remember Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan both did similar things. 

If somebody thinks this is classic LeBron and immediately believes he will leave for another team is a downright sucker. They are the same people whom link out clearly fake stories at least once a month. Sure, it is fun to live in dream world thinking James is coming to your team, but at the same time, it is definitely overreaching to make those sort of assumptions unless a reporter gives you a nugget that might make you think otherwise. Until then, it should be understood LeBron is opting out only to give Miami more choices in the upcoming offseason.  Sorry for being the wet blanket in the situation, but that's how things are going to work until we know for certain LeBron will make a move other than Miami. 

We might never know though which is the problem with all of this drama. James' wife Savannah posted an Instagram photo of the State of Ohio which is going to get blown up even more given it happened only a couple days ago. I can almost guarantee there will be a story coming out whether it be Yahoo! or ESPN will have a story about the dissension between Pat Riley and James which will lead everyone to think LeBron might head out. The only real thing where you could point to LeBron leaving would be if Dwyane Wade decides to bypass his option and play out the final two years of his contract at 41 million dollars, an insane amount of money for the player Wade is right now. 

LeBron will probably not do this but what if he wanted Wade off his roster which would then allow Miami to make a realistic push at Melo?  I mean it would be like Shawn Michaels superkicking Marty Jannetty through a glass window because it would be the ultimate heel move by James. More so than what he did at The Decision. Wade is the stalwart of the Miami roster, and if James would run him out of town,  I am not certain how people would react to something like it. Let's be honest, Wade is not a second banana anymore on a playoff roster. He could be a star on some teams in the lottery, but right now, Wade is half the player of what he was when LeBron first made the decision to be a member of the Heat.

This is only the beginning with James and the Miami saga. It will get ridiculous and there will be rumors, but 2010 was a fun summer with this nonsense, why not run it back for another time? 

Charlie.   

NBA Playoffs Recaps: Lowry! Lin! Parker! A Night for Point Guards

Toronto Avoids Collapse with Strong Play From Lowry
It seemed like a pretty calm first session of NBA games this evening. It didn't seem like anyone would make a real run at making it a close game, but Brooklyn Nets come back from a 26 point deficit to make it a close game late for another thrilling game in Toronto. Jonas Valanciunas is thanking his lucky stars because if not for a backcourt violation, Deron Williams 65 foot heave would have went in or at least hit rim before Jonas decided to jump for no apparent reason. It would have been one of the biggest blunders in sports history given the nature of the game, the collapse and everything. Toronto is thanking their lucky stars today. Kyle Lowry was terrific on Wednesday night as he had 36 points and six assists with making six threes as well. Lowry put Deron Williams on skates to get the go-ahead bucket as things looked in peril for the Raptors. I still think this series is going seven, but Brooklyn needs to keep Lowry contained on Friday.

Appropriate tweet: Toronto gave lint rollers away in honor of Drake and We The North might be my favorite team slogan ever.

So this is a real thing in Toronto. pic.twitter.com/pYsyTKP5UV
— Jim ICE (@Jim_ICE) April 30, 2014

Houston forces Game 6 
It felt like we were heading to another close battle between Houston and Portland as it became close late in the fourth quarter, but the Rockets pulled away with cold shooting from Trail Blazers forcing a Game 6 returning to Rip City on Friday night. Patrick Beverly battled a fever rendering him useless on the court as he looked sick with him bundled up, eating food and drinking more water therefore someone need to step up in the moment. The person choosing that role was Jeremy Lin. The goat of Game 4 became one of the reasons they are playing on Friday as Lin had 21 points making nine shots and coming up big for this Rockets team. Also a big part of this game was Omer Asik and Dwight Howard combined for 29 rebounds inside which goes a long way.

One of the underrated storylines from last night was how bad LaMarcus Aldridge played on Wednesday. LMA had back-to-back 40 point performances, and Houston held him to single figures. It could be an aberration and Aldridge ends up having a huge game on Friday night yet if Houston figured out the secret to stop him, it becomes a whole new series.

Parker powers Spurs past Mavs
Even though San Antonio won Game 4, Tony Parker faced some criticism because he struggled most of the game and battled a bum ankle. Parker flipped the script in Game 5 being the difference for San Antonio with 13 second half points giving the Spurs a 109-103 victory. Parker finished the game with 23 points being one of the five San Antonio players in double figures. He took control of this game, and that's an encouraging sign for the Spurs moving forward in this series and the playoffs. If Parker can get over his dinged ankle, San Antonio will be the contender again like we all expected them to be in the NBA postseason. Spurs also dominated Dallas inside as they scored 26 more points in the paint than the Mavericks. It started to feel like the Spurs are taking advantage in this series. I wouldn't be surprised if they close out on Friday night.

Appropriate Vine:  Great answer from Gregg Popovich as Vince Carter was lighting up San Antonio



Charlie.