Former Miami Heat guard Carlos Arroyo lamented the fact that veteran Heat guard Kyle Lowry’s current struggles could hurt the team this season.
Arroyo appeared on the “Road Trippin'” podcast and gave his assessment (at the 42:46 mark) of contending teams, noting how Lowry has slipped from his past greatness on the court.
“I don’t know man,” Arroyo said. “I hate to see that Kyle is not the same Kyle. They depend a lot and so much of him, his 3-point shooting and his consistency hasn’t been what we’ve seen in the past. So I think they’ll struggle because they need Kyle to play at a top level.”
Lowry is in his second season with the Heat, but is only off to a modest start after four games. He’s averaging 10.8 points, 4.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game.
In addition to those numbers, Lowry’s shooting success has been a disappointment thus far this season. He’s connecting on just 28.2 percent of his field-goal attempts and 28.0 percent on his 3-point efforts.
Lowry’s final season with the Toronto Raptors during the 2020-21 campaign saw him see action in just 46 contests. However, in those games, he averaged 17.2 points, 7.3 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 1.0 steal per game.
Unlike the shooting struggles that Lowry’s currently enduring, he averaged 43.6 percent on his field-goal attempts and 39.6 percent from beyond the arc.
The 36-year-old Lowry has been in the NBA since the 2006-07 season when he played for the Memphis Grizzlies. The aging process eventually affects all players, which could be the case with Lowry.
When the Heat acquired Lowry in a 2021 sign-and-trade, they were no doubt aware that a possible decline might take place at some point.
Yet, they were comfortable enough with Lowry’s body of work on the court to give him a three-year, $85 million deal. He’s making $28.3 million this year and is set to make $29.7 million next season
Such financial numbers might be cause for some second thoughts in the Heat front office. That’s because paying Lowry such a high salary puts a burden on the team’s salary cap.
It may be too early to say that Lowry’s career is winding down, but one way to eliminate such talk is for him to up his on-court numbers. Another way for the focus to veer away from Lowry’s struggles is for the Heat to start winning on a consistent basis.
The Heat are off to a slow 1-3 start this season and are starting a three-game Western road swing against the Portland Trail Blazers tonight.
