From the overall runner-up starting inside line to the trade addition 26-year-old Lowe walked to the elimination zone Can he come back
In the 2022 Finals, he averaged 2.8 blocks per game, blocking Stephen Curry to the point that he did not dare to enter the restricted area. And now he is just an addition to the Trail Blazers sending away Grant, pricing a first-round pick, and being put on the shelf for half a year and still no one cares. He is Robert Williams, the former protector of the North Shore Garden Stadium penalty area, why has he fallen to the brink of being eliminated from the league in just two years, and Lowe, who was known to the former Green Army fans, still has a chance to prove himself again?
Lowe's fall is not unexpected, everything has to start with the closing stage of the 2022 regular season, when Lowe suffered a torn meniscus at the end of the regular season, and on March 30, Lowe underwent meniscus tear repair surgery, and everyone thought he would be reimbursed for the season, but less than a month later, Lowe miraculously made a comeback and caught up with the Celtics playoffs.
In the first four games of the Finals, Lowe sent 12 blocks, and Warriors main player Curry reluctantly praised Lowe for being everywhere. But the discerning person has seen the weakness of the god Yong Luo Wei - that is, no matter how he plays, his effective playing time cannot exceed 25 minutes. Once this limit is exceeded, Lowe's performance on the court will be greatly reduced.
In the offseason that year, a reporter broke the news that in order to be able to play, Lowe played closed in addition to uninterrupted rehabilitation, but even with such a serious knee injury, he could only ensure that he could play 25 minutes, and this became the main reason for the Celtics' loss.
Luo Wei, who gave everything and lost the finals, failed to win the favor of the goddess of fate. In the second year of the Celtics' loss to the Finals, Lowe only played 35 games a season, and although he still shot 74.7%, his form was not as good as before, and the consequences of playing with injuries have already appeared, and the Celtics also chose to sell Lowe to the Trail Blazers just before the start of the 2023-24 season. The relentless fire sale is chilling, but that's the norm in the NBA.
Because of playing with an injury, Lowe won prestige, but because of playing with an injury, Lowe was sold by the Green Army, and became another little Thomas in the eyes of all fans, because of injuries and prime, he will fade out of the NBA. But as naïve as Lowe is, his career isn't meant to end there, and there are actually three reasons why he stays in the NBA.
The first reason is the contract, Lowe's current 4-year 54 million contract will expire in the summer of 2026, and the salary next season is $13.98 million, which is already the price of cabbage at the moment when blue-collar players often have an annual salary of 20 million, and it is also cost-effective for some teams with generous salaries to spend 14 million to sign a total runner-up inside. If Lowe can't play or continues to be injured, he can trade Lowe out again on the grounds of expiring his contract, which is a good deal.
The second reason is combat power, and a healthy Lowe's combat power is not inferior to the Lakers' interior Davis. Even Lowe, who was injured, was still able to average 6.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 1.2 steals per game in the Trail Blazers last season. With only 26 years old and recovering from injury quickly, it's worth betting on his potential with other teams. If Lowe can really return to the top, he will inevitably become the inner patron saint of the new club.
The third is the low transaction cost, a first-round pick is very low in the NBA, the championship team is just a bargaining chip for the current first-round pick, and the fish belly team has a lot of first-round picks. In the current era of salary explosion, it is difficult to exchange a player for any outstanding player in the first round, but it can be replaced by a potential player like Lowe. So this transaction cost is really very low.
Therefore, Lowe is not destined to lose his job, and leaving the Trailblazers may be the beginning of his return to the top.
