Source: Sixers to sign veteran guard Kyle Lowry

Out goes one veteran native of Philadelphia, in comes another.

The Sixers will sign guard Kyle Lowry to a rest-of-season deal once he clears waivers, a source confirmed to 97.3 ESPN on Saturday night.

The Miami Heat traded Lowry and a first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets for guard Terry Rozier in late January. The 37-year-old former All-Star reportedly agreed to a contract buyout with the Hornets on Saturday, facilitating his eventual signing with Philadelphia.

For days, sources had been confident that Lowry joining the Sixers was an inevitability. Philadelphia practically told the world that there was something in the works when fan-favorite guard Patrick Beverley was dealt to the Milwaukee Bucks ahead of Thursday's trade deadline. Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey even alluded to Beverley losing minutes in the team's playoff rotation as part of the logic for trading him.

Lowry will be the only player on the roster with a championship on his resume, a mark of playoff success that could prove critical to Philadelphia's hopes of a long run should Joel Embiid make a full recovery from his meniscus injury in time.

While his usage saw a significant dip this season before his trade to Charlotte, Lowry has maintained his effectiveness as a possession manager, logging an assist-to-usage ratio of 1.35. That ranks in the 81st percentile of NBA point guards this season, per Cleaning The Glass.

I think we're largely splitting hairs or even under-rating what Lowry can still do on offense at his age when we compare what he will bring to what Beverley brought. Beveley is probably still a better defensive player at this point, but Lowry is a better offensive player.

Most importantly, he's a much better fit - with or without Embiid. He's shooting 40 percent from three this season, and 63 percent of his shots have been threes. He's simply a far better spacer and shooter than Beverley was.

Not only will that help keep defenders out of the driving lanes when he and Maxey share the floor, but it will improve Embiid's options when double-teams come.

The deal, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, is for $2.8 million. While that projects to be a veteran minimum, according to PHLY's Derek Bodner, the deal will come from the Sixers' mid-level exception.

The Sixers have replaced their native tough guy and veteran ball-handler.