Vince Carter Was 'All In' on Re-Signing With The Raptors, Kyle Lowry Says
Despite all the tumult surrounding Vince Carter's 2004 departure from the Toronto Raptors, the former Toronto icon nearly had a fairytale ending with the organization.
At one point, Kyle Lowry said he recruited Carter to re-sign with the Raptors organization, possibly in 2018-19 had the Sacramento Kings bought out Carter ahead of Toronto's first NBA championship.
"I tried to get Vince back with us," Lowry said during a conversation with Carter on The VC Show. "I was one of the biggest advocates to try to get him back in Toronto and Vince was all in. ... We was working on trying to get that done."
A return to Toronto, especially with a title certainly would have gone a long way to redeeming himself in the eyes of fans who still hold a grudge following his trade request and disappointing departure to the New Jersey Nets.
In 2018, Sportsnet's Michael Grange reported Toronto wasn't interested in bringing back Carter for its playoff run. The organization instead opted to sign Jeremy Lin who had been bought out by the Atlanta Hawks.
Carter never ended up being bought out by the Kings that season and went on to play two more seasons with the Hawks before returning in 2020. His final game came on March 11, 2020, the day Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19, shutting the league down for months before its resumption in the Orlando Bubble.
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