Toronto Raptors: Player grades based off preseason expectations

Kyle Lowry: A

Everyone continues to wonder when Kyle Lowry is going to drop-off. While the majority of fans continue to slander Lowry, Raptor fans gawk at his hustle, and his ability to continuously play winning basketball.

One of the wonders which surround LeBron James is the notion that he gets better with age. I’m here to say that it seems that Lowry is in that same boat. These two are nowhere near the same stratosphere as players, but Lowry’s ability to only improve as the years go on is astonishing.

Lowry this season has averaged 19.7 points per game, 4.8 rebounds per game, and 7.7 assists per game, on the second-highest effective field goal percentage of his career at 52.0 percent. A season which, coming into it, the role of Lowry was going to be increased, and he was expected to take on a lot more of the offensive burden.

When selecting my All-Star teams at the beginning of the year, I had Lowry teetering on the final spot. Lowry made the All-Star team with ease and is the leader of the third-best team in the league.

He is one of the most beloved athletes in Toronto history and is certainly the greatest Raptor of all time. I can’t see Lowry taking his game up another notch next year, but he’s shocked me enough in the past that I wouldn’t be surprised.