Toronto Raptors All-Star guard Kyle Lowry will have surgery on his injured right wrist on Tuesday, the team announced on Monday afternoon, with hopes of him returning for the playoffs.
Kyle Lowry to undergo surgery Tuesday morning to remove loose bodies from right wrist. Aim to return for playoffs. #WeTheNorth
— RaptorsMR (@RaptorsMR) February 27, 2017
This is obviously an enormous blow for the Raptors, who just made two moves before the trade deadline to fortify their roster to make a run at the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference. Here are five things to know about Lowry’s injury:
The Raptors could be in serious trouble
Over the course of this season, Lowry has been as indispensable to his team as any player in the league. He trails only Chris Paul, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green in ESPN’s real plus-minus, and the Raptors have fallen apart on both ends this season when he’s gone to the bench:
Offensive rating (Lowry on court) | Defensive rating (Lowry on court) | Offensive rating (Lowry on bench | Defensive rating (Lowry on bench) |
113.2 | 105.1 | 105.1 | 108.6 |
Toronto is not a one-man show, but there is no one man more important than Lowry. He is the driving force of the offense, manipulating defenses in the pick-and-roll and creating open shots for himself and others. He is easily the Raptors’ best shooter and one of the most efficient point guards on the planet. Without him, a ton of the playmaking burden falls on DeMar DeRozan, who has been fantastic this season but has carried a minutes and usage load that is already worrying.
Recent games have been encouraging
If you’re looking for reasons to be optimistic, just watch Toronto’s last three games. Before the All-Star break, reserve guard Delon Wright led a remarkable fourth-quarter comeback against the Charlotte Hornets. Wright, who missed most of the season recovering from shoulder surgery, has performed admirably in the last couple of games as Cory Joseph’s backup, and he will stay in that role until Lowry returns.
In the Raptors’ wins over the Boston Celtics and Portland Trail Blazers after the break, they have looked like a totally different team because of the additions of Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker. They now have proper spacing all game, and, more important, they have the defensive versatility that they were so obviously missing. This is one of the deeper teams in the league, and they have the talent to be one of the best defensively. If that happens, they might be able to outperform expectations down the stretch.
The caveat: DeRozan is being stretched, even now. Toronto needed a career-high 43 points on 15-for-28 shooting from him to get past the Celtics, and he had 33 points on 9-for-16 shooting against Portland.
They don’t need to look at the buyout market
Some will suggest that the Raptors turn to Brandon Jennings or Jose Calderon or look to the D-League for help, but this seems unlikely. They still have three point guards on the roster without Lowry: Joseph, Wright and rookie Fred VanVleet. These guys cannot come close to duplicating what Lowry does, but they have shown that they’re capable of filling in just fine.
Joseph, 25, has been inconsistent this season, but at his peak he is one of the league’s best backups. In the last couple of games, he has been more aggressive than normal, and that has worked out well for Toronto. He’s one of the Raptors’ few players who can get to the basket with relative ease, and he has great touch around the basket. While he doesn’t shoot a ton of 3s, he’s making a career-high 39.7 percent of them this season.
Wright, 24, is largely untested as an NBA player, but his recent play has been exciting. He has a knack for getting deflections, and he’s a patient pick-and-roll player with nice change-of-pace moves. In the big picture, him getting an opportunity to play is the silver lining here.
The road back to the conference finals just got tougher
Toronto is fourth in the Eastern Conference, but is only percentage points behind the third-place Washington Wizards. If Lowry was coming back, it would have had legitimate hopes of catching the Celtics for the No. 2 spot with Ibaka and Tucker in the fold. Boston has a three-game lead on the Raptors, and now that gap looks bigger.
From now until the end of the regular season, Toronto’s goal should be to get the third seed. If the Raptors finish fourth or fifth, then they’d be set up to face the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round rather than the conference finals. They should want to avoid that at all costs.
The timetable could be worse
Lowry could be back in four or five weeks, according to The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski. If it’s five weeks to the day, then he’ll be back in time to play five regular-season games before the postseason starts. This is far from ideal, but it’s preferable to Lowry trying to come back during the playoffs or with only a game or two to shake off the rust.
