Lowry was willing, but Spurs didn't reciprocate interest in free agency

Kyle Lowry eventually re-signed with the Toronto Raptors, but he looked carefully around the league when he was a free agent this summer.

One destination that piqued Lowry's interest was the San Antonio Spurs, who had cap room and an obvious vacancy at starting point guard. That could have been a fit had the Spurs been willing, but Lowry's enthusiasm apparently wasn't reciprocated.

"It was real for me," Lowry told Jabari Young of the Express-News. "But it wasn't real for them. That's a part of the business that people don't know. I would have loved to come here, but it didn't work out. The conversation didn't happen. If the conversation happened, I would tell you. But it didn't happen.

"Not saying that I wanted out, but I did look at teams to see what was going on. I mean this place would've been a great place."

Given Tony Parker's age and Patty Mills' limitations, San Antonio was widely expected to chase a premium point guard in free agency when they had the possibility of carving out something close to maximum cap room.

Lowry and Chris Paul were two of the most popular names linked to the Spurs, but San Antonio chose instead to stick with the status quo and re-sign Pau Gasol and Manu Ginobili, while adding Rudy Gay at a discount.

With the Spurs out of the running, the market for Lowry quickly dried up. He eventually landed back with the Raptors on a three-year, $90-million contract that included another $10 million worth of incentives.

Lowry averaged 22.4 points. 4.8 rebounds, and seven assists last season while hitting 41.2 percent from deep with 3.9 triples per game.