The Miami Heat completed their sign-and-trade with the Toronto Raptors that officially landed them veteran point guard Kyle Lowry.
Once the free agency negotiation window opened up earlier this week, the available point guards flew off the open market. While Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry was not the first to be taken off the board, he was on his way to the Miami Heat on a three-year, $90 million contract. But, the move was completed as a sign-and-trade between the Heat and the Raptors.
On Friday, the deal became official, as the Heat acquired Lowry from the Raptors in exchange for guard Goran Dragic and Precious Achiuwa. But who won the trade between both Eastern Conference teams?
Heat Trade Grade: B+
The Heat were coming off a disappointing showing in the opening round of the NBA playoffs against the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks. Despite forcing Game 1 to overtime, the Heat were completely decimated by the Bucks, resulting in them being swept out of the playoffs.
It became quite evident that the team needed a distributor at the point guard position. The Heat got that in Lowry, who not too long ago won an NBA title in Toronto while teaming alongside Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam. The organization obviously hopes he can replicate that success while playing next to Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.
This past season, Lowry averaged 17.2 points, 7.3 assists and 5.4 rebounds while shooting 43.6-percent from the field and 39.6-percent from the three-point line through 46 games.
While it was a huge get for the Heat, it is hard to see this move propelling them over the likes of the Bucks or the Brooklyn Nets in the conference power rankings.
Raptors Trade Grade: C
The Raptors can take solace in the fact that they at least got something in return for Lowry instead of watching him walk to free agency. But, Toronto is not getting much.
Dragic fills in as a guard off the bench for the Raptors behind Fred VanVleet. He is currently on the books for $19.4 million for the upcoming season before he hits free agency. Through 50 games this past season, Dragic averaged 13.4 points, 4.4 assists and 3.4 rebounds while posting a field-goal percentage of 43.2 and a three-point percentage of 37.3.
Achiuwa slots in as a depth forward with Toronto, as he is coming off a campaign where he averaged 5.0 points and 3.4 rebounds in 12.1 minutes through 60 games (four starts).
At least the Raptors got something in return for Lowry. But, this is an organization that will likely have to scratch and claw their way into the playoffs next season.