The Toronto Raptors were recently swept out of the second round of the playoffs by the Cleveland Cavaliers, marking the end of their season.
This upcoming offseason will be a big one for Toronto, as their All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry is set to hit free agency.
While Raptors president Masai Ujiri has expressed interest in re-signing Lowry, the 31-year-old recently said that all he is interested in is winning a championship, and moving to a Western Conference team may be the way to do that.
Another possibility for Lowry may be going to play for his hometown Philadelphia 76ers, who have young, talented players in Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Dario Saric, but do not have any stability at the point guard position.
According to Keith Pompey of Philly.com, Lowry to the 76ers is a legitimate possibility as the two parties have shown mutual interest in each other:
Sources have said the North Philly native has been interested in playing for the Sixers for some time. The speculation only heightened once Bryan Colangelo became the president of basketball operations in April 2016. As the Raptors general manager, Colangelo acquired Lowry in a trade from the Houston Rockets on July 11, 2012. The two have remained good friends since then.
And sources have always said that the Sixers planned to offer Lowry a lucrative contract this summer.
Lowry is coming off the best season of his 11-year career, averaging career-highs in points (22.4), rebounds (4.8), field goal percentage (46.4) and three-point percentage (41.2) to go along with 7.0 assists per game.
He was limited to just 60 games due to a broken right wrist, and he missed the Raptors final two postseason games with a sprained ankle, but Lowry has proven to be one of the top point guards in the league when healthy as he has been named to the last three All-Star games.
Many believe that Simmons will play point guard for the 76ers if he is healthy, so it is unknown how he and Lowry would fit together should Lowry choose to sign with Philadelphia.