Report: Kyle Lowry interested in playing for Sixers, ‘good friends’ with Bryan Colangelo

Everyone is weighing in with their takes on the Kyle Lowry situation, and Philly.com’s Keith Pompey is no exception. The beat writer wrote an article in favor of Lowry’s return to Philly, and is one of the few prominent supporters of a potential move in the area right now.

Buried within his piece on the merits of the deal was a little nugget that should strike fear in your heart if you’re an opponent of Lowry to Philly:

Sources have said the North Philly native has been interested in playing for the Sixers for some time. The speculation only heightened once Bryan Colangelo became the president of basketball operations in April 2016. As the Raptors general manager, Colangelo acquired Lowry in a trade from the Houston Rockets on July 11, 2012. The two have remained good friends since then.

And sources have always said that the Sixers planned to offer Lowry a lucrative contract this summer.

This is a stronger connection than any of the previous reports linking Lowry and the Sixers, and is the first one to pinpoint interest on Lowry’s own behalf. The 76ers wanting to chase him is no surprise given their guard situation, but his consideration of the franchise—despite publicly saying winning is all that matters to him—is a bit of a curveball.

If friendship and wanting to play in Philly was all that mattered, Lowry might have defected to the Sixers when Sam Hinkie took over years ago. He once called Hinkie, “one of my favorite people,” so it seems like he’s in the habit of developing strong relationships with front office guys, at least in his later years.

There’s a lot of smoke here. If the Sixers don’t get the No. 1 overall pick and draft their guard of the future, be prepared to spend the better part of your summer debating the merits of this move.