Sixers welcome Kyle Lowry’s arrival: ‘He’s been through it’

CLEVELAND — Paul Reed remembers a game against the Miami Heat last season when Kyle Lowry “got a little chirpy.”

Back then, that made the 76ers big man think, “Calm down, bro.” But now, Reed is ready to welcome Lowry’s competitive edge as a new teammate.

“I feel like that gets him going,” Reed said at Monday’s shootaround at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse ahead of the Sixers’ marquee matchup against the Cavaliers. “So I’m pretty sure he’s still going to have that.”

Lowry, the North Philly native and former Villanova and Cardinal Dougherty High School star, cannot officially sign with the Sixers until he clears waivers Tuesday afternoon, after his contract was bought out by the Charlotte Hornets. But Lowry made his intentions clear with a “coming home” video posted on social media late Saturday, and the Sixers are expecting his arrival.

“In the playoffs, you’re going to need toughness,” All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey said Monday. “You’re going to go through adversity. You’re going to need guys that have been through stuff, and I feel like he has.

“He’s been through it. He’s won [a championship]. He’s been close to it again with Miami the last couple years, so it’s somebody who I think brings a lot of value to our team.”

The news of Lowry’s buyout — which came after the Heat traded him to the Hornets for Terry Rozier late last month — and plan to come to Philly broke as the Sixers’ locker room was clearing out following Saturday’s victory at the Washington Wizards. Before the trade, the 37-year-old Lowry’s scoring average had dipped to 8.2 points per game, his lowest mark in that category since 2008-09, while averaging 4 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 37 games. Lowry is also shooting 38.5% on 4.4 three-point attempts per game, which Reed said will help him and teammates get open looks.

Lowry will not be asked to replicate his All-Star production, or even be a starter, on this Sixers team that had lost eight of its last 10 games entering Monday but remains hopeful it can make a deep playoff run once reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid recovers from knee surgery.

In addition to that intangible toughness, Maxey highlighted Lowry’s ballhandling and playmaking along with his active hands on the defensive end of the floor. Watching Lowry long before his own NBA career began, Maxey was impressed by how the 6-foot guard drew charges, got to his left to shoot three-pointers, and beat opponents with the ball in his hands.

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“I used to be wondering as a kid, ‘How can he be so small — he’s a little smaller than me — and he still finishes at the rim and gets big guys up on pump fakes?’” Maxey said. “He’s done it a long time, and I think he’s going to help us.”

Lowry also knows Sixers coach Nick Nurse from their time with the Toronto Raptors, where Lowry developed into a six-time All-Star, won the 2019 NBA title, and became arguably the most popular player in franchise history. When asked generally during Monday’s pregame news conference about a guard expected to join the Sixers soon, Nurse chuckled and said, “I think we all know what we’re all talking about, but I can’t comment on it until it’s official.”

Lowry also played for the Houston Rockets from 2009 to 2012, when Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey was the general manager. Although Morey could not explicitly mention Lowry’s name during a Monday radio interview with 97.5 The Fanatic, the executive made multiple references to “hopefully a buyout [player] here shortly that we will be able to announce.” Morey added that the potential to sign a quality veteran player during the season is why the Sixers did not use their mid-level exception during last summer’s free agency.

“Suffice to say, we wouldn’t ask someone we didn’t think had a lot left,” Morey said. “We feel he’s an absolute upgrade. … We felt like there was one key player that we really had to get, and we saved our mid-level.

“Philly fans were correctly on us, like, ‘Hey, why didn’t you use your mid-level?’ Well, it was for this reason right here that we had hoped someone would be available, where our extra money we could give them would make a difference.”

Lowry could theoretically be available to play Wednesday, which would make for a poetic Sixers debut with the Heat in town. But since Lowry has not seen game action since Jan. 21, it is also possible the Sixers wait until after the All-Star break to put him on the floor.

Whenever that occurs, Maxey and Reed are ready for Lowry’s arrival — and to have his competitiveness on their side.

“Playing against him, I know he’s one of those dudes that’s going to be raunchy,” Reed said. “That’s probably a good thing for us.”