Raptors still need Lowry with end game in sight

In the NBA, Kyle Lowry started in Memphis. He was a late first-round pick, short and squat and stubborn, looking for a place he could be loved. He got hurt; the Grizzlies drafted Mike Conley fourth overall. Kyle was traded in Marc Gasol’s rookie year.

Then it didn’t work out for long in Houston, and it nearly didn’t in Toronto, and when the trade deadline passed Thursday night and the Raptors had acquired Gasol, team president Masai Ujiri was asked whether Lowry’s reported availability on the trade market might cloud the point guard’s mind.