The 12 Greatest Raptors in history, ranked by Player Efficiency Rating (PER)

No. 6: Kyle Lowry, 19.4

Thought by many to be the best player in franchise history, Kyle Lowry checks onto our list of the best Raptors of all time ranked by PER at No. 6.

The 6'0" point guard entered the league with the Memphis Grizzlies and played six seasons with the Grizzlies and Houston Rockets, proving himself as one of the better defensive guards from early on but taking a long time to develop as a shooter and scorer to earn a larger role. He did toward the end of his time in Houston and it convinced the Raptors to invest a first-round pick in him in 2012.

The rest, as they say, is franchise history. Lowry became a full-time starter early on, in his second season in Toronto finished sixth in Most Improved Player, and in year three made his first of six-consecutive All-Star appearances. His best season came in 2015-16 when he finished All-NBA, 10th in MVP voting and also received Defensive Player of the Year votes.

In total, Lowry played in 601 regular season games and another 84 playoff games, including a run to the championship in 2019. He averaged 17.5 points, 7.1 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.5 3-pointers per game. The reason he is not higher on this list is that his contributions were often beyond the box score, in his leadership, hustle, basketball intelligence and overall emotional drive. Even still, his presence on this list as a small guard testifies to the impact he had while on the court.