I'm not here to argue he is a top 5 point guard, but he could be working his way into the top 7-10 range, which I would consider to be in the "star" range not "superstar" range if you want to argue semantics. Fact remains Rondo is widely considered one of the better(at least top 10) point guards in the league and he has NEVER had a PER above 20. Never amazing, but still recognized as extremely important and better than his PER number might suggest. Obviously Lowry hasn't played at this level ALL season, but he has had a great stretch recently and throughout the whole season has had similar impact as a guy like Rondo. Even though Rondo may be having a somewhat down year(17.12) it isn't too far off from his best season to date(19.18). I think Lowry will be similar to him in that he probably will never post a season PER above 20, but could be considered one of the better point guards in the league anyway, its not like Lowrys current PER of 16.62 is the highest it will ever be. This is his first season as the starter. The roster, line ups and roles have changed a lot throughout the season and we are still playing with an incomplete team. Realistically next season 18.00 to 18.5 isn't that hard to imagine and would put him in the top ten or better in terms of PER for point guards.
He's putting up terrific numbers. His shooting improvement is simply amazing. I do think there is some truth to what you're saying, though. You can notice a trend where a lot of fans want to trade players that struggle and keep ones that do well or play good minutes. Also, we get emotionally invested as fans. A month ago, no one on the team was untouchable... now no one wants to deal Lowry or Patterson because they're playing well ("Because they're playing well" is also the reason another team would be interested). The goal likely remains getting that superstar or two. No matter what though, it's good news for Morey and company.
i love Kyle and absolutely love how he is getting the recognition now but c'mon now this is a bit too far to start comparing him to the all-stars of the league the guy has been balling out of his mind since the beginning of the year but the other guys on the list have been doing that every season for several seasons. right now if he can continue this type of play for the rest of the season and into the playoffs and onto the following season (whenever that may start) then we can start comparing right now he is playing like an all-star but the body of work is too small to be compared to the real all-stars. I think kyle will get there though but i also feel he may end up being that guy who deserves to be on the team but always gets left off because of other guys who are more known and all in the upcoming seasons. I am not going to start comparing him just yet since that will just cause disappointment and its not fair to Kyle. lets revisit this after kyle has at least 2 full seasons as the starter. right now just be happy that Kyle Lowry is a Rocket and is one of the few bright spots the team has had in the last two seasons and that he is locked up for the next few years at a good price.
Actually i was serious. More dunks = more highlights. More highlights = more recognition. Not saying it would increase his numbers but his recognition. Look at BG. Without his dunking ability I dont think he would be as big as he is.
his great play and his buzzer beater factor makes me happy, at this point i would only take rose over him, maybe dwill, i think lowry will get his stripes in the playoffs, i think he's got a toughness that will translate well in the playoffs.
Along the lines of what The_Yoyo said: Everyone considered an elite PG has successfully responded to the challenge of NBA defenses focusing on stopping them and their ability to run an offense. That test really hasn't happened to Lowry, yet. He will be tested now, for sure. The NBA has taken notice and will try to stop him. Once a team succeeds, others will watch the tape and copy the formula. Lowry will have to adjust. If he does, then he is a solid Top 6 or 8.
OremLK, if Brooks had an elite/all-star ceiling last year, what you do think Lowry's ceiling is this year?
Love the bowling ball but your talking about the elite of the elite, the dude needs to perform at that level for more then a few weeks. He's played at a solid NBA starting caliber PGuard level, I'm very happy with that.
STFU troll... Brooks already reached his ceiling. He doesn't have the size to be anything close to what Lowry can do. Lowry has another level of fire and focus that Brooks has no chance of reaching.
PER is a garbage stat. It's basically a box score amalgamation stat, made for those people who can't tell the difference between a guy going 20/10 on 5-18 shooting and a guy going 20/10 on 7-7 shooting. You might as well say "I base my analysis on looking at box score stats and box score stats alone", since that's exactly what PER is. It's a joke that this is considered some sort of "advanced" stat. Facts are that this is the best offensive team in Houston Rockets history, led by one Kyle Lowry. He makes very few mistakes and is very clutch. Rockets are the best team in the league at not turning the ball over and his clutchness speaks for itself. You can put him in whatever category of stardom you want based on your box score stats but that won't change the fact that he's a great player with basically no big weaknesses in his game.
Does he compare to top five point guards? No. Do I think he needs to be upgraded to a top five point guard? HELL no. Cash your trade chips for a center or small forward, much better idea.
I'm a huge Lowry fan but this has gone too far. Lowry is currently what I would consider a solid starter who is probably about 80% of the player he can ultimately be. Realistically, he is missing the tools that the top 5 guards in the league. He doesn’t have great court vision or decision making skills nor is he a spectacular athlete or a tremendous shooter. A player needs to be elite at probably three of those four things to be considered elite.
Parker and Nash are not ones I would trade for Lowry. Paul, Williams, Rose, and Rondo are a step above Kyle. Parker, Nash, Kidd are great PGs, but are on the decline(less so with TP) and would go with Lowry over those. Anyone else is a lateral move at best even right now so would stick with Kyle. If Kyle loses his jumper he drops below a few of the 2nd tier PGs. I don't think that's going to be a problem, though. He may not shoot 40% from 3 like he has been, but I see about 35% on 3's from Kyle Lowry being all that the Rockets need with Martin, Bud, Miller, and Lee firing at respectable clips. He should have no problem doing that.
lowry is a solid point guard but compariing him to the elite pg's is another discussion. cp3, dwill, rose, rondo, john wall, parker, westbrook, and if you wanna consider tyreke evans a pg... are all pg's i'd choose over lowry in a heartbeat without questions....there are many others where i'd have to think about what our situation was.
This. 100x. They are both very very similar. ~Both are stocky PGs ~Both didn't come into the NBA tearing it up ~Both play great defense ~Both make big shots ~Both seem to have this undeniable leadership quality Lowry is interesting, can he keep this up? I sure hope so, he'd then be one of our franchise players. That is how good he is playing right now.
Don't know if he's on par with the likes of CP3 and D.Rose, but he's def. in that 2nd tier with Parker, Kidd, Billups, Curry etc.
