Nets are 'Frontrunners' to Acquire Kyle Lowry

Photo by Howard Smith/USA Today

Toronto Raptors GM Masai Ujiri continues his hot streak of trading away contracts for prospects and the Brooklyn Nets are allegedly the the "frontrunners" to be the Canadian team's next trade partner.

Kurt Hellin of NBC Sports reports that the Nets lead the way in possibly making the trade, ahead of the Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks, as Knicks owner James Dolan apparently has backed out of a potential trade at the risk of being swindled twice by Ujiri in the same season.

Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski says that the Nets have explored trading away some combination of Mirza Teletovic, Tyshawn Taylor, and Eurostash Bojan Bogdanovic, who is currently playing in Turkey.

The Nets showed a clear need for a more talented backup point guard when Deron Williams went down. Without DWill in the lineup, Brooklyn went 3-6. Shaun Livingston, after a stretch of really solid games, suddenly lost his way and did not perform well at all. Taylor has shown signs of good development (his 16 point, 12 assist game against Houston comes to mind), but at this point is still a project and a long way away from being a consistently good contributor.

Lowry could be a great fit for Brooklyn because his greatest strengths are the Nets' biggest weaknesses. He's a scrappy, speedy guy who can shoot threes and defend the perimeter well.

It's evident that the Nets want to acquire Lowry, but they have very limited assets to do so. The earliest draft pick they have to trade is 2020, which is likely too far off for Ujiri (or anyone) to consider. Will Teletovic, Taylor, Bogdanovic, or some combination thereof be enough to land Lowry? Ujiri, the reigning NBA Executive of the Year, is known for his sly dealmaking and is clearly interested in blowing up the Raptors' roster in exchange for draft picks and prospects. Brooklyn may not have enough of either to get a deal done.

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