Yes the pre injury Kawhi is a top 3 player in this league. However there is no telling how hes going to play upon returning to play. Hopefully he returns to being a great 2 way player but if he doesn't you gave up a top 3 SG in the league that was committed to being here.
IMO they should have moved Lowry.
Lowry is a
far better player than DeRozan. He can score, he can defend, he racks up assists, he can even rebound well for a guard. He's easily a more complete player than DeRozan and while not as much of a pure-point-accumulator, he impacts the game in more and better ways.
also the only reason that DeMar even comes close to being considered a top 3 SG (Which is debatable) is because the league has shifted away from marquee players being SG
2017-18 VORP among guards:
8.3 - Harden
7.5 - Westbrook
5.5 - Lillard
5.0 - Lowry
4.6 - Simmons
4.5 - Oladipo
4.4 - Curry
4.3 - Paul
4.0 - Irving
3.6 - Walker
3.0 - Holiday
2.7 - Beal
2.6 - DeRozan
Italics are guys who are classed by some as possibly SG (or as PG-SG combo)
That's with Curry, Paul, and Irving all playing significantly fewer minutes than everyone else thanks to injury.
Don't like VORP? By BPM Lowry was 7th and DeRozan was 18th
WinShares put Lowry 4th and DeRozan 6th
WS per 48 minutes make Lowry 6th and DeRozan 8th.
Even tossing away the stats, simply watching the games shows Lowry doing more on the court. He is at the center of every play. DeRozan needs to be shielded on D and either he's hitting jumpers or he's barely contributing.
Lowry is the better player head to head. He also is basically a top 5-7 PG in a league that's more PG focused than ever. DeRozan is a top 3 SG in a league where his competition is basically kind of Harden, kind of Oladipo, and Bradley Beal.
Kyle Lowry the Raptor gives you essentially 20 PPG, 7 APG, 5 RPG, 1.5 SPG, shoots over .380 from deep, and plays hard-nosed defence while taking charges like nobody's business. For all the lauding DeRozan gets for being a guy that embraced and stuck with Toronto, so has Lowry. Twice.
DeMar DeRozan is maybe about 23-24 PPG, 4 APG, 4.5 RPG, 1 SPG, shoots <.300 from deep and plays disinterested, disengaged defence most of the time.
Strip away the adulation of DeRozan as the homegrown talent that likes playing for the Raps and there's really no argument that Lowry is the more impactful player.