The six-time All-Star could be closing his 20-season NBA career as a member of the franchise where he won the 2019 championship.
Kyle Lowry arrived in Toronto in a July 2012 trade that cost the Raptors only Gary Forbes and a future first-round pick. Nine seasons later, he departed with six All-Star selections and the first championship in franchise history to his name.
Selected 24th overall by Memphis in the 2006 NBA Draft, Lowry went on to play 20 NBA seasons, a mark just 12 players in league history have reached. The 40-year-old appeared in 14 games without a start for Philadelphia in 2025-26. His playing days ended in May, when the New York Knicks swept the 76ers out of the Eastern Conference semifinals on their way to the championship, one round after Philadelphia had rallied from a 3-1 deficit against Boston.
Where his career would formally conclude was never in doubt. Speaking to reporters at Scotiabank Arena before a 76ers game in Toronto on January 11, Lowry left nothing ambiguous about his plans (via NOW Toronto’s Janiece Campbell).
“My goal, and I’ve committed to this and I never go from what I say, I will sign a one-day contract and retire as a Raptor,” Lowry said. “That has not changed.”
On Thursday, that plan was reported on by Sportsnet’s Michael Grange reported, who stated Lowry is set to ink a one-day deal with Toronto and formally end his career as a member of the franchise, with a press conference scheduled for Tuesday, July 7, the same number he wore throughout his Toronto tenure.
Lowry averaged 17.5 points across 601 regular-season games with the club, adding 7.1 assists and 4.9 rebounds per contest, and he sits first in Raptors history in both career assists (4,277) and steals (873). Jose Calderon (3,770) and Doug Christie (664) hold second place on those respective lists.
His defining stretch came in 2019, when Toronto captured its first NBA title. In the championship-clinching Game 6 against Golden State, Lowry produced 26 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists.
As the news began to go viral, Lowry himself stepped in with a message on his Instagram story.
It seems very improbable the information out there is completely wrong, but perhaps there is more to it than has been fully reported.
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Clippers agreed to send Kawhi Leonard back to Toronto in exchange for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick and a package of draft picks (per ESPN’s Shams Charania). Leonard, the Finals MVP of that 2019 run, averaged 28.5 points per game in that Finals series.
While Leonard, 35, returns with one season and $50.3 million remaining on his contract, Lowry returns for a single day. It puts the two central figures of Toronto’s title team back under the same roof as one of them calls it a career.
Per Grange, the July 7 announcement is expected to bring further recognition this coming season, and a jersey retirement is considered likely. Lowry addressed that scenario in January as well.
“I put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into that [No. 7], and the fact that it probably won’t ever be worn again, it would be pretty special,” he said via Campbell.
Fourteen years after Toronto first acquired him from Houston, Lowry is signing a one-day contract and retiring a Raptor.
