One Raptors Legend Should Follow Kyle Lowry Into the Rafters

The Toronto Raptors will hang a second jersey in the rafters when Kyle Lowry's No. 7 is retired on Jan. 10 around a home date with Philadelphia, and that immediately opens up a debate the franchise has been putting off.

Somebody has to be third, and the answer should not take the team another decade to reach.

Lowry earned his night the long way, with nine seasons in Toronto, six All-Star selections and the 2019 championship, and he left holding the franchise records for assists, steals and made threes.

His number will join Vince Carter's No. 15, which went up in November 2024 as the first in team history.

"I've been looking forward to this moment for years. I always said that Toronto is home, and that I'd retire a Raptor, and to see my No. 7 go up in that building is going to mean everything to me," Lowry said in the team's announcement.

It is the right call, and it also sets the bar for who comes after.

The third jersey should belong to DeMar DeRozan and the No. 10 he wore there.

Toronto drafted him ninth overall in 2009, he stayed for nine seasons through losing stretches and deep playoff disappointments when leaving would have been easier, and he remains the team's all-time leader in points, games, minutes and field goals.

His 13,296 points sit comfortably ahead of everyone who has ever worn the uniform, and his best season brought 27.3 points per game in 2016-17.

Toronto traded him to San Antonio in July 2018 in the deal for Kawhi Leonard, a move that delivered a title and still raises questions around the franchise even in 2026.

Retiring his number would go a long way toward closing that wound, and it would tell every future franchise player that loyalty gets remembered in Toronto.

Carter already has his honor, and his 23.4 points per game remains the best in team history.

Chris Bosh went into the Hall of Fame in 2021, spent seven seasons in Toronto and still leads the franchise in rebounds and blocks, so his night should come after DeRozan's.

Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam won the 2019 title alongside Lowry, but both careers are still running, with VanVleet in Houston working back from a torn ACL and Siakam playing for Indiana.

Both will have real arguments when their careers finish, and the team loses nothing by letting those stories end first.

DeRozan is 37 and just signed a one-year minimum deal with Denver that became official this week, which suggests the end of his playing days is close.

Once he retires, Toronto should already have the date picked, because the case is finished.

The current roster is chasing its own history, with a group still hunting for an answer to its shooting problem and young guards like Ja'Kobe Walter trying to earn their own place in the story.

Honoring the man who carried the franchise through its hardest years would remind all of them what staying can mean here.