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The Toronto Raptors announced Wednesday they have acquired point guard Kyle Lowry from the Houston Rockets for forward Gary Forbes and a protected future first-round draft choice.
The 26-year-old Lowry averaged career bests of 14.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.6 steals during the 2011-12 season. He also contributed team highs of 6.6 assists and 32.1 minutes in 47 games (38 starts). As a starter, he upped his averages to 15.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.8 steals and 35.5 minutes.
Lowry scored 20-plus points 11 times last season, including two 30-point outings. He had 10 or more assists five times, with at least eight assists in 18 contests. Lowry led the Rockets in assists 33 times and paced the club in scoring on 12 occasions. He had a season-best 32 points versus Utah on February 19, a career high-tying 18 assists versus Atlanta on December 31 and a career high-tying 11 rebounds January 10 at Charlotte. He recorded his second career triple-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists at Minnesota on January 23.
Lowry, 6-foot, 205 pounds, was a first-round draft choice (24th overall) by Memphis in 2006. He was dealt by the Grizzlies to the Rockets on February 19, 2009. A native of Philadelphia, Lowry played two collegiate seasons at Philadelphia’s Villanova University before declaring for the NBA Draft.
The six-year NBA veteran owns career averages of 10.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.14 steals and 26.9 minutes in 359 games. He has appeared in 13 postseason contests, averaging 5.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 19.5 minutes.
Forbes (6-7, 220, Massachusetts) has averaged 5.8 points and 2.0 rebounds in 111 career NBA games (13 starts) with Denver and Toronto. In 2011-12 with the Raptors, Forbes averaged 6.6 points, 2.1 rebounds and 14.9 minutes in 48 games. He made two starts with Toronto, posting his first career double-double with 12 points (6-16 FG) and a career-high 13 rebounds at Chicago (3/24/12). The native of Colon, Panama, then started a second consecutive game and poured in 21 points (7-14 FG, 4-7 3FG) vs. Orlando (3/26/12). Forbes appeared in 63 outings (11 starts) as a rookie with the Nuggets in 2010-11, averaging 5.2 points and 1.8 rebounds in 12.6 minutes per game. Prior to the NBA, Forbes saw action in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), the Venezuela-LPB, Italy-SerieA and the Israel Premier League. He was also the fourth overall pick by the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the 2008 NBA D-League Draft. Forbes averaged 17.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 52 total games (33 starts) with the Skyforce (22 games) and Tulsa 66ers (30 games) in 2008-09.
