Why Kyle Lowry Has Been NBA's Most Surprising Player During Season's 1st Half

There was a time when Kyle Lowry was the guy no NBA team wanted. He clashed with coaches as a member of the Rockets and Grizzlies. He rode the bench and grew frustrated with his limited playing time. The talent was there, but he earned a reputation around the league for being immature.

Now, Lowry is not only starting for the Toronto Raptors—but he's also arguably the best point guard in the Eastern Conference. For that reason, he deserves the title of most surprising player in the NBA up to this point.

With Lowry leading the way, the Raptors sit atop the Atlantic Division and in third in the East at 26-12. Lowry made strides last year, but he apparently wasn't considered indispensable to a team that, as B/R's Jared Zwerling reported, nearly traded him to the Knicks in December 2013.

This year, Lowry has established himself as a team leader and a consistently dazzling performer. Given his rocky history—just two seasons ago, he began the season as the team's No. 2 point guard behind Jose Calderon—Raptors fans had to wonder if this moment would ever come.

Noah Graham/Getty Images

Lowry is averaging career highs in points (20.4), assists (7.7), rebounds (4.8), field-goal percentage (44 percent) and free-throw percentage (82 percent). He's as pesky as ever on defense, and he was the Eastern Conference's player of the month for December.

According to Mike Jensen of Philly.com, as of January 11 Lowry ranked ninth in the NBA in Player Efficiency Rating (PER) and fifth in Value Over Replacement Player (VORP). More playing time and an improved mindset have helped him take the next step, as Jensen explained:

"

By his own admission, Lowry really hit this level over the last year. It's hard to be a coach on the floor if you're always questioning the ones on the bench. When he became the go-to player, his points-per-minute spiked. Sometimes it doesn't help a team when one guy scores more, but Toronto began winning a lot more. For anybody who wondered if Lowry was simply playing for a new contract—which he now has, locked in for $12 million through 2017-18—his numbers kept trending up this season.

"

Beyond the numbers, Lowry has also become a face of the Raptors. Lately, the franchise has been championing his All-Star candidacy, and just about everyone in Toronto has hopped on the bandwagon—from Canada Centre employees to Raptors broadcaster Matt Devlin to Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper.

The rapper Drake, introducing the Raptors' lineup at a game last month, referred to Lowry as the "baby-faced assassin."

Kevin Pelton at ESPN.com aggregated various advanced metrics to suggest that, so far this season, Lowry has been the most valuable point guard in the East, ahead of the likes of John Wall, Jeff Teague and Kemba Walker (subscription required).

"Lowry has the most complete game of the group, and has carried the Raptors near the top of the East without DeMar DeRozan," Pelton writes. "Remarkably, Lowry has never been an All-Star, but that oversight should be corrected soon."

Now that DeRozan is back—he scored a game-high 20 points on Wednesday in a win over the Sixers—Lowry's scoring numbers could dip. But his overall game will only be elevated.

"We're like a married couple," DeRozan told reporters of his relationship with Lowry after Wednesday's game, per CBC Sports.

Part of what makes Lowry's spike in performance so remarkable is the fact that he'll turn 29 in March. He's halfway through his ninth NBA season. Late bloomers are not all that common in the NBA, where stars usually become stars upon, or shortly after, entering the league.  

That's why Lowry, a Philadelphia native and Villanova alum, qualifies as an even greater surprise than someone like the Bulls' Jimmy Butler, who's 25 and had already shown flashes of star potential during his first three seasons. Bulls fans could see the explosion coming.

Make no mistake: Lowry probably should have been an All-Star in 2013-14, when he helped the Raptors grab the No. 3 seed in the East.

The surprise, however, is that he keeps getting better at a point in his career when most players have already peaked. He's finally happy with his surroundings and secure in his starting role, and apparently it's made all the difference.

As Lowry continues to develop his relationship with Raptors head coach Dwane Casey, and as he earns the unyielding faith of his Toronto teammates, his game will only reach even greater heights.

When it does, no one will be surprised.