Toronto Raptors: 2017-18 player grades for Kyle Lowry

Final grade

I understand the plight of the Toronto Raptors. Because of the limitations that come with playing in Canada, the team often struggles to sign top free agents. The top players that they do net via the draft — Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Chris Bosh — either leave the second they hit unrestricted free agency or ask for a trade beforehand.

Faced with those pitfalls, team president Masai Ujiri and the rest of the Raptors front office often have to get creative when building a playoff roster. It requires some forward thinking and a little bit of luck. This team experienced a little bit of both when they handed the keys to Lowry.

The journeyman point guard has found a home in Toronto as he and DeRozan have become the faces of this team. Sure, Lowry carries the burden of the choker label due to Toronto’s constant playoff defeats. But what were the Raptors doing before Lowry and DeRozan emerged as All-Stars? Wasting draft picks on Andrea Bargnani? Collecting loss after loss in relative obscurity? Lowry deserves praise for helping raise the Raptors to levels that the franchise hadn’t seen before.

Like DeRozan, Lowry represents the good and the bad of this Raptors team. He came out of nowhere after the Rudy Gay trade and ascended to perennial All-Star status. He’s also emblematic of the team’s shortcomings; as good as he is, he simply isn’t good enough to take the Raptors to the next level.

Lowry is a very good NBA player, but he is also a flawed player. Sometimes, that is the best a team like Toronto can hope for.

Next: 2018 NBA Mock Draft - Final edition

Grade: B