September 17, 2024
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images
Kyle Lowry was a godsend for the Sixers in 2023-24. Can he be similarly valuable in his first full season with the team?
Welcome to our Sixers player preview series! Between now and Sixers Media Day on Sep. 30, we will preview each one of the 14 players on the team's standard roster, posing two critical questions that will help determine their fate in 2024-25 before making a prediction about the player's season to come.
Kyle Lowry gave the Sixers extremely valuable minutes after joining the team via the buyout market last February, but was often overtasked. Lowry returned for the 2024-25 season, and figures to slot into a more fitting role. What can Lowry give the Sixers as one of the oldest rotation players in the NBA?
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De'Anthony Melton's injury soon after Lowry's arrival in Philadelphia forced Sixers head coach Nick Nurse to insert the veteran into his starting lineup after initially profiling as the team's first guard off the bench. Lowry did an excellent job playing alongside Tyrese Maxey in a role that saw his frequency of on-ball opportunities fluctuate quite a bit.
By the time the Sixers were entrenched in an intense first-round playoff series against the New York Knicks, it was abundantly clear that Lowry and fellow veteran Nic Batum were two of the team's five best players. They were both reliable spot-up shooters, quality defenders across multiple positions and high-level passers. And yet, the Sixers' offense often stagnated when Lowry and Batum shared the floor.
As terrific as both were as role players, neither one is currently capable of creating a shot for themself due to a lack of on-ball explosion that has come with age. The best way to put it: Lowry and Batum were both perfect fifth members of a lineup, but neither possessed the requisite on-ball juice to be a fourth option.
Batum is gone, of course, but surely Lowry will share the floor with subpar on-ball scorers at various points in games. It will be fascinating to watch him operate under less than ideal athletic circumstances; Lowry will turn 39 years old before the end of the upcoming regular season and his burst will only continue to decline.
Additionally, a terrific passer can only consistently create quality shots for others if they are remotely threatening as a scorer on their own. If Lowry's creation is limited to spot-up shooting and finding an open man on a swing pass, his value to the Sixers will take a hit. If he is able to attack closeouts effectively and serve as a decent pick-and-roll ball-handler despite his reduced athleticism — in addition to everything else the Philadelphia native brings to the table — he will be one of the single most effective backup ball-handlers in the NBA.
Lowry is listed at 6-foot and 196 pounds. He does not have long arms. And yet, down the stretch of last season he seemed considerably more comfortable defending wings than he did defending players his own size.
What enables Lowry to even have a chance defending someone like Jimmy Butler, for example, is that he has incredibly impressive strength. Lowry simply cannot be physically overwhelmed or overpowered like most 6-foot, sub-200-pound guards would be against wings.
But what allows Lowry to win those matchups consistently is his mind. Lowry is as brilliant of a basketball thinker as there is, and his maniacal calculations within every moment of every game sometimes manifest in a way that reflects on Lowry in a lovable manner; though he oftentimes comes across as a complete maniac.
Kyle Lowry at drawing charges https://t.co/Ghwt5XDzWO pic.twitter.com/Nfi0AO3fSG
— RapsShowYo (@RapsShowYo) August 20, 2024
But, because of Lowry's diminished foot speed, he actually could be exploited in certain matchups against like-sized players. When Lowry is on the floor, Nurse could account for this by inverting his defensive matchups — Lowry will defend a wing-sized player, while a traditional wing like Kelly Oubre Jr. or Caleb Martin could shift onto the opposing team's point guard.
Of course, though, Lowry being able to hang against guards for decent stints of action would behoove Nurse and the team — any amount of additional optionality, particularly when it comes to defensive assignments, is a plus; that is especially the case for a coach like Nurse who often uses unorthodox tactics on that end of the floor.
Lowry will take somewhat of a step back from his 2023-24 production, but will still be a viable rotation player headed into and through the playoffs.
After all of my years watching, following and covering sports, I just cannot justify predicting that a player nearing his 39th birthday will not regress even a little bit as they enter their 19th professional season. But after all of my years watching, following and covering Lowry, I cannot justify predicting that he will cease to be a quality NBA player.
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