The Lead

Kyle Lowry Returns To Toronto To Close His Career

Kyle Lowry is expected to sign a one-day contract with the Raptors this morning and formally retire, with the team scheduling an event and press conference for Tuesday, July 7 that sources say will end in Lowry formally calling it a career. He left as Toronto's all-time leader in assists (4,277), steals (873), 3-pointers (1,518), triple-doubles (16), and total win shares (74.5), and the Raptors are planning to retire Lowry's No. 7 jersey during the 2026-27 season, making him just the second player in franchise history to receive that recognition after Vince Carter.

The timing is not an accident. Kawhi Leonard reportedly is returning to Toronto, where he played during the 2018-19 season and won NBA Finals MVP as he led the Raptors to the 2019 NBA championship, with the LA Clippers agreeing to trade Leonard back to Toronto in exchange for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, and future draft picks, the other half of the 2019 title engine, and pairing that trade with Lowry's sendoff lets the front office frame a rebuild around nostalgia rather than uncertainty. That is a marketing decision as much as a basketball one, and it works only if the Toronto Raptors are expected to begin negotiations on an extension with Kawhi Leonard this week after they complete their trade for the All-NBA forward and produces a roster good enough to justify the emotion.

The Rest of the Slate

Blue Jays

Toronto fell 10-1 to the Giants in San Francisco, extending a stretch in which the lineup has produced almost nothing against competent pitching. The Jays rank 13th in the AL in runs scored with 357 on the year, a middling figure that turns into a real problem whenever the rotation has an off night.

World Cup

Mikel Merino scored a dramatic 91st-minute winner as Spain beat Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal 1-0 in the FIFA World Cup round of 16, closing out Cristiano Ronaldo's World Cup career. Ronaldo's underlying numbers back up the eye test: he averaged just 3.7 shots and 3.3 duel attempts per 90 minutes in this World Cup, down from 5.9 shots in the 2010, 2014 and 2018 World Cups.

WNBA

Brittney Griner scored a season-high 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Kennedy Burke added 16 points off the bench, including two 3-pointers in the final three minutes, and the Connecticut Sun beat the Minnesota Lynx 90-89, a one-possession finish between two teams jockeying for playoff positioning. Games decided by a single point rarely reveal much about roster quality, but they are useful reminders of how thin the margin is across the league's middle class.

The Number

Dylan Cease's strikeouts in 21.1 innings during June Over four starts this month he has a 36:14 K:BB in 21.1 innings. That is not a hot streak, it is a pitcher operating a full tier above the roster around him. Watch how the front office handles Cease before the deadline, because a team 13th in the league in run support cannot afford to let its best trade chip walk for nothing.

What's On Tonight

            12:00 PM ET · Argentina vs Egypt (World Cup Round of 16) · TSN
4:00 PM ET · Switzerland vs Colombia (World Cup Round of 16) · TSN
9:45 PM ET · Blue Jays vs Giants · Sportsnet
          

Top Dog — Betting Angle

The pick: Switzerland to advance in regulation. Colombia needed a single goal and 2.06 expected goals to get past Ghana, a modest attacking return for a team that will face a considerably better-organized back line in Vancouver.

“Toronto is retiring a number before it retires the jersey, some ceremonies just take longer to schedule than others”