We’ve only glimpsed it occasionally this season, a vision of Toronto’s NBA team that doesn’t include Kyle Lowry as its beating heart.
But the day is coming when the franchise point guard will be absent from the franchise — and not just for the bulk of a second half, as Lowry was Tuesday’s win over the Milwaukee Bucks. And as much as some loyalists probably aren’t keen to ponder such a future, that victory underlined something heartening about the forecast. As essential as Lowry has become in his nine seasons in Toronto, putting together what is undoubtedly the greatest career in a Raptors uniform, there’s more than a little evidence to suggest the Raptors could get along OK without him.