Kyle Lowry will be essential for the Sixers' playoff push
By David Rooney
The Philadelphia 76ers signed North Philly native Kyle Lowry after he was traded to the Charlotte Hornets, who bought out his contract. As the hometown kid returns, he brings skills and experience that can help the Sixers in a multitude of ways.
Lowry is a seasoned veteran, a deadeye shooter, and tenacious defender with a championship ring. He might just end up being the most important buyout addition across the NBA this season.
Lowry can create for himself and others with the starters on the bench
The 76ers have had well-documented struggles to stay afloat when their starters are on the bench. Part of the problem is that the team has had a lack of primary ballhandlers, and the few lead initiators that they have had in the Joel Embiid era (namely Jimmy Butler, James Harden, and Tyrese Maxey) have typically played with the starting unit.
The team hasn’t had enough initiators to rotate them out so one is almost always in the game. This tires out the starters, and even for the few minutes they are both out, the bench unit suffers from a lack of offensive creation. This can allow opponents to go on game-changing runs.
Maxey is a starter, and will undoubtedly stay in that role as he has developed into an All-Star caliber player. Lowry will serve as a lead initiator for the second unit, and this will add a dynamic to that unit which has been missing for the majority of the past half-decade.
Lowry should age gracefully due to his shooting skills
Shooting is often one of the last skills that a player loses. It’s the reason that Ray Allen was so effective for so long. It’s part of the reason that LeBron James has made a serious effort to reinvent himself as more of a shooter later in his career.
Shooting will still be there even when your athleticism starts to go when your body betrays you and you can’t run as fast as you could or jump as high as you could when you were younger. Shooting requires much less physical effort, and elite shooters tend to age gracefully.
Kyle Lowry has always been known as an excellent shooter, this will help him to age gracefully as he finishes out the back nine of his career.