1. Kyle Lowry

PG - 6'0, 196 lbs.

Raptor from 2012-13 to present

Toronto Career Stats: 505 GP, 17.4 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 7.0 APG

One day the No. 7 will be hanging from the rafters at Scotiabank Arena.



Amazingly, it won’t be for the player the Raptors once drafted with the first-overall pick (Bargnani), who wore the number previously. It will belong to the player they got for Gary Forbes (and a first-round pick) and a guy who thought he’d only be in Toronto for a couple of years, who they nearly traded for Iman Shumpert and Tim Hardaway Jr.



Lowry’s unlikely journey from disgruntled journeyman to perennial all-star, NBA champion, the most valuable player in franchise history, and maybe even future Hall-of-Famer, is nothing short of remarkable. And think about how many things had to fall into place to make it happen.



If the Raptors had been successful in wooing Steve Nash, who ended up choosing the Lakers instead, they wouldn’t have traded for Lowry in 2012. If James Dolan weren’t petrified of being fleeced by Ujiri again, Lowry would have been traded to the Knicks in 2014.



If the trade of his good friend Rudy Gay hadn’t sparked a miraculous turnaround, he would have left as a free agent that summer. If there had been a more point guard friendly free-agent market in 2017, he probably would have left then. If the reconciliation meeting between him and Ujiri hadn’t gone well last February, he may have been traded before the deadline. The stars have had to align so many times for Lowry and the Raptors to stay together — or even come together in the first place — but it’s hard to imagine one without the other. They’ve needed each other. They’ve brought out the best in each other.



The Raptors believed in Lowry and gave him the opportunity to take the reins of a team when nobody else would. Lowry’s returned the favour by giving them everything he’s got.



He’s the heart and soul of the most successful era in franchise history, the engine that’s taken them further than they had ever been before, and the most important and irreplaceable player on just about every Raptors team he’s played for, regardless of what the counting stats tell you.



DeRozan put up gaudier scoring numbers, and then Leonard after that, but make no mistake; this has always been Lowry’s team.



Ever doubt Lowry’s value? Watch a game from his perspective. Don’t watch the ball. Just pay attention to Lowry and what he’s doing on both ends of the court. He never stops moving. He’s consistently thinking, using his body to carve out space, playing the angles, and even working the officials. He’s a maestro.



He shouldn’t be as good as he is. He’s a stocky, undersized point guard, now on the wrong side of 30. Even in his prime, he was never the quickest or most athletic player on the court. But if he can’t out-run or out-jump you, he’ll almost always find a way to out-think and out-work you. His game defies logic, so maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that he’s now defying age too.



Lowry will be 34 in March but he’s showing no signs of slowing down. Over the years he’s blossomed into one of the NBA’s best three-point shooters. He’s routinely among the league leaders in deflections and drawing charges. He’s a fantastic passer and coming off a season in which he averaged a career-high 8.7 assists. He makes everyone he plays with better.



He’s not always the easiest guy to get along with, whether you’re a coach, executive or in the media. He can be stubborn, prickly and even combative at times, but those that know him best will tell you that it comes from a good place. More than anything else, he just wants to win.



Lowry may have been at the top of this list even before the championship, though it would have been a tougher sell. Now, there’s little doubt that this is where he belongs.



True to character, Lowry played through a significant thumb injury for most of last year’s postseason run. He took pain-killing injections before games and would ultimately need off-season surgery to repair the ligaments. Still, he shot 51 per cent against Milwaukee in the Conference Finals, including 47 per cent from three-point range, then scored his team’s first 11 points in the title-clinching Game 6 win over Golden State, finishing with 26 points and 10 assists and cementing his Raptors legacy forever.



There’s no way any Raptor should have their jersey retired before Lowry – the greatest and most important player in franchise history.



Super stat: Lowry is the franchise’s all-time leader in win shares (64.1) and value over replacement player (31.5). In his eight seasons with Toronto, the Raptors are plus-2209 with Lowry on the court and just plus-97 with him off it.



Super stat 2: Lowry doesn’t just hold the franchise record (12) for triple-doubles, he’s recorded as many as every other Raptor combined. He’s also the franchise’s all-time leader in three-pointers.



Photo courtesy: Canadian Press