Kyle Lowry finally got the payday he deserves

Kyle Lowry agreed to a reported three-year, $100-million contract to remain with the Toronto Raptors on Sunday, leaving the All-Star point guard with a $33-million-plus salary that, while astronomical for the average observer, is a figure finally worthy of Lowry's quality in the modern NBA.

At 31, the majority of Lowry's prime is likely in the rearview, but he remains one of the best point guards in the position's golden era - an elite shooter who can pull up from anywhere, a cerebral playmaker who can pick apart a defense as much with his vision as he can with his scoring, and a capable defender at the point of attack (though his focus on the defensive end seemed to wane last season).

Most expected the sting of a potential four- or five-year contract to hurt Toronto in seasons four and five, but it's entirely plausible that the Raptors will still get star-level production from Lowry over the life of a three-year deal. ESPN's advanced stat guru Kevin Pelton, for example, projects Lowry's production over the next three seasons to be closer to Kevin Durant's and Stephen Curry's than it is to Paul Millsap's (using WARP).

The last time Lowry was a UFA (2014), he was coming off a season in which he led what was supposed to be a rebuilding Raptors team to its first postseason appearance in six years, but he didn't have a long track record of individual success yet, was still dealing with questions surrounding his attitude and coachability, and most teams and stars were waiting on LeBron James' decision before charting their own course.

Lowry settled for a contract that paid him $12 million per year, and in the three seasons that followed, earned his first three All-Star selections and an All-NBA nod while averaging 20.4 points, 6.7 assists, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.7 steals for a perennial playoff team that averaged 51 wins a season. In other words, he became a max-level player for half the price.

(courtesy: Basketball Reference)

As recently as Saturday night - when it sounded like Lowry could net somewhere in the neighborhood of $27 million per year - it seemed the Raptors' franchise point guard might again have to settle for a below-market rate, thanks to poor timing and an unpredictable sequence of events that eliminated potential suitors with each passing day.

For one, the plethora of point guards available was akin to the oversupply of power hitters who clogged baseball's free-agent market last winter, and when the top dog of that bunch (Chris Paul) took himself off the market, it was only as part of a trade that landed him on one of the contenders (Houston) previously linked to Lowry.

A week and a half before the Paul deal, Lowry's hometown Philadelphia 76ers - flush with cap space, in need of a lead guard, and run by the executive who brought Lowry to Toronto - traded up to select point guard Markelle Fultz No. 1 overall in the NBA Draft. Then in the opening minutes of free agency, Minnesota and San Antonio, who seemed obvious fits for Lowry, filled their positional needs with cheaper options (Jeff Teague and Patty Mills) from the oversaturated market.

Even the lowly Brooklyn Nets - who likely wouldn't have satisfied Lowry's competitive fire, but could've at least provided him some potential leverage as a team with eons of cap room - traded for 2015 No. 2 pick, D'Angelo Russell.

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

Lowry's age and an injury-riddled second half of the season probably didn't help, and all of the above may have contributed to coming up roughly $100 million short of what his total contract value would've been over a five-year max (and about $1.4 million short of his max salary in Year 1). Yet reading Lowry's ode to Toronto in The Players' Tribune on Sunday, perhaps the market passing him by had as much to do with an external understanding he was staying put than it did a lack of external interest.

In any event, Lowry's nearly tripled his salary while becoming the highest paid player on one of the few Eastern Conference teams actually trying to contend in the short term, and whether you look at traditional stats, advanced metrics, or on/off differentials, he's more than earned it for what he's done to resurrect a once moribund franchise.

In a period of unprecedented NBA wealth, it would've been a shame if an unfortunate confluence of timing and luck once again prevented Lowry (one of the cap-inflated era's 15 best players) from capitalizing on his true value. This deal ensures that won't be the case.