The Philadelphia 76ers have already played their final regular season game, putting a stamp to their campaign with 45 wins against 37 losses. That is good enough for seventh place in the Eastern Conference, although they are going to have to take part in the play-in tournament and get two sudden-death matches to try to win if they want to qualify for the real playoffs.
But just to put things into perspective, their most recent outing against the Bucks is likely the final time the world is going to see Kyle Lowry play for the 76ers (or really, for any other ball club). Thanks to Philly managing to blow Milwaukee out, they were even able to hand him some minutes that could very well end up being his final ones.
In five minutes of gameplay, Lowry missed all five of his shots (all three-pointers). Yet that is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, as it marks the ending of his time on the hardwood for the 76ers, and the belief is that he will no longer suit up in the NBA as a player beyond this season.
The Kyle Lowry experience is unofficially over for the 76ers
Lowry was great in his first year with the 76ers (although that was only a quarter-season experience). He was flat-out unplayable last season, though, which made the decision to re-sign him for another year all the more baffling.
However, the 76ers never really signed the six-time All-Star and one-time NBA champion to be a factor on the floor. He was retained to be the voice of reason in the locker room, especially for the guards like Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, and before he was shipped away, Jared McCain.
This inference obviously does not take rocket science to conjure, but Lowry’s time with the 76ers is basically over. He, for sure, is not going to get any minutes in the postseason. If Philly’s brain trust wants to remain affiliated with him, it is going to come in a coaching capacity.
Kyle Lowry has had a fantastic career given the way his life in the NBA started. He will go down as one of, if not the greatest Raptor of all time, and for the 76ers, his influence on Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe will surely be felt as both of them progress in their careers. But for what it’s worth, his individual time with the franchise has effectively reached its expiry point.