It's time, Toronto... Kyle Lowry is ready to make his Toronto Raptors debut on Wednesday

These ain't your "Roko Ukic and Marcus Banks are your point guard backups" Raptors.  

This season, Toronto has point guard depth which includes former Houston Rocket, Kyle Lowry, one of the biggest offseason additions to the team.  Wednesday night will mark his debut with the Raps in a preseason game against the Washington Wizards at the ACC, as he's been on the bench due to injury. Although disappointed to lose out on the Steve Nash sweepstakes during the offseason, this may have been a blessing in disguise for Bryan Colangelo as he was able to acquire the 26-year-old Villanova product. 

Lowry has been dealing with a strained adductor muscle in his left leg which dates back to training camp in Halifax, but now it looks like he's good to go and fans will get a glimpse of this new and improved Raptors team with some great depth at the point guard position.

Expect Lowry to be the main cog running this Raptors team, but the Raps also have long-time Raptor Jose Calderon (most likely coming off the bench) and basketball journeyman, John Lucas III as the solid third guard.  Lucas has already made his presence known in the preseason, showing his ability to both shoot the rock and pass the basketball, scoring 16 pts and dishing out 5 assists in the second game of the pre-season against the Pistons and then 9 pts and 8 assists in the Raptors' last match-up with Detroit.  With Lowry/Calderon/Lucas, the Raptors have one of the best trios of point guards around the league, with Lowry in the driver's seat.

Although the hype going into this season is the Lituanian big man, Jonas Valanciunas, as one of the main assets to help rebuild the franchise, Kyle Lowry is going to make a much more immediate impact this season.  Kyle will not only be called upon to help lead the Raptors to wins but also to help both Valanciunas and Andrea Bargnani in their respective games.

Lowry on Valanciunas and Bargnani (via the Toronto Star)

“They both do special things, one’s a shooter, one’s a great roller so it’s going to be fun out there, getting in the pick-and-roll and getting some layups and getting some open shots,”

With Coach Casey's focus on defence, a tough-nosed defensive point guard in Kyle Lowry AND......don't forget a motivated DeMar DeRozan in his contract year (and fourth season), there's a lot of look forward to, Toronto.

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