Toronto Raptors: 5 reasons for blowing it up

3. Lagging Lowry

When healthy, Kyle Lowry has been super over the last four regular season’s in Toronto, as evidenced by three straight All-Star appearances. This season, he averaged 22.4 points and 7.0 assists per game, including a career-best 41.2 from three-point range on 7.8 attempts per game. Furthermore, he compiled an outstanding net rating of +8.2 over 60 games.

However, the postseason’s arrival is when things have gone awry.

Over the last three seasons, Lowry has played in 32 playoff games, averaging 17.4 points and 5.8 assists per game. This includes shooting 40.0 percent from the field and 30.2 percent from three-point range.

Lowry recently turned 31 and has now completed 11 seasons in the league. While Lowry has never suffered any long-term injuries, investing in a point guard who is entering the latter stages of his career, and has shown a propensity to break down late in the season, is clearly a huge risk.

But judging on recent reports, the Raptors may already have their decision made for them. Keith Pompey of Philly.com, in a recent article titled “The Sixers should go hard after Kyle Lowry,” stated:

"Sources have said the North Philly native has been interested in playing for the Sixers for some time. The speculation only heightened once Bryan Colangelo became the president of basketball operations in April 2016. As the Raptors general manager, Colangelo acquired Lowry in a trade from the Houston Rockets on July 11, 2012. The two have remained good friends since then. And sources have always said that the Sixers planned to offer Lowry a lucrative contract this summer."

As impressively as Lowry has performed since arriving in Toronto, the Raptors’ postseason record during this time is now at 17-24. As the team’s leader and best player, having such a record under his watch is bound to cause concern for the front office.

Suggestion

Let Lowry walk via free agency and target free agent point guard Jrue Holiday.

Although he has been injury-prone, Holiday will be just 27 at the beginning of next season. Notably, Holiday played the final 58 games of this season without taking a game off.

Overall, Holiday averaged 15.4 points and 7.3 assists per game. With eight seasons under his belt and entering the prime of his career, Holiday represents a great option moving forward.