Raptors Appear To Bid Farewell to Norman Powell, Kyle Lowry
The heart and soul of the Toronto Raptors organization could be ripped out by 3pm ET today. Kyle Lowry and Norman Powell are both slated for a move away ahead of the NBA trade deadline.
It feels like the culmination of a series of unfortunate events for the Raptors. After winning a championship two years ago, the franchise has plummeted. After a year playing in Tampa due to Covid, the vultures circle for their two best players.
Both Normal Powell and Kyle Lowry claim not to know what the future holds. However, the aftermath of their win over the Nuggets, their first in 9 games, was funereal.Â
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“I haven’t been watching SportsCenter, to be honest,” Norman Powell said.Â
“I really don’t see a lot of stuff. It’s weird around me. I feel like, with some people in the organization I’m always being asked what can happen, this, that and the other. But I tell them the same thing every single day. Some of the people in the organization, our medical staff were emotional and things like that, and I’m telling them to relax and calm down.
“But it’s a business. You build connections with people. … It doesn’t really bother me any type of way. Whatever happens, I can’t speak on emotions that aren’t here right now. I’m going to wait and see like everybody else.”
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The lavish praise coach Nick Nurse heaped on Kyle Lowry certainly felt like a goodbye.
“We’ve developed together, really,” Nick Nurse said.Â
“When I first got here, I was new to the NBA and he kind of wasn’t really a starting player, like legitimately starting.
“So it’s been that growth all the way to six-time All-Star, Olympic gold medal and an NBA title, which is really incredible for Kyle Lowry, I think. And he’s broken most, or he’s really high up there, on all the Raptors records. He’ll go down as maybe the greatest Raptor ever, I think, to date.”
