Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry is doubtful to play Wednesday’s game against the Mavericks due to a sprained ankle.

Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry is unlikely to play Wednesday’s game with a sprained ankle. Lowry narrowly avoided a major injury after stepping on Serge Ibaka’s foot on Tuesday night.

The injury comes in the midst of a solid season so far for Lowry, who is averaging 18.3 points in a game, up considerably from his 10.5 points per game career average.

He was placed in a walking boot as a “precaution”  on Tuesday and will receive more treatment Wednesday. For now, Toronto is listing him as day-to-day with no timetable for return. Jose Calderon will start at point guard while Lowry recovers.

The Raptors reportedly will try to trade Jose Calderon. (Chris Chambers/Getty Images)

Jose Calderon has been the target of trade speculation since the Toronto Raptors traded for point guard Kyle Lowry this offseason. Calderon has even reportedly worked with the Raptors to find a team with enough cap space to absorb his $10.6 million 2012-13 salary.

Calderon told Marca.com (translated version via HoopsHype) the Raptors told him he is still a candidate to be traded.

“It’s true that they have said that I’m an important player for them this season, because they have thought of me like that from the beginning. However, Bryan (Colangelo, Raptors GM) has said that I’m a candidate to be traded because I have a big contract and it’s my last year. They have talked about this more than anything else.”

The future of Jeremy Lin should be known in the next few days.

According to TNT’s David Aldridge, Lin officially signed a Houston Rockets offer sheet. Now, it’s the Knicks’ turn.

Source says that Jeremy Lin has officially signed three-year, $25.1M offer sheet with the Rockets. Knicks will have three days to match.

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David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) July 13, 2012

It is understood New York will match Houston’s offer after head coach Mike Woodson confirmed it without hesitation on Thursday. If they retain Lin, the Knicks will be set in the backcourt with future Hall of Famer Jason Kidd as his backup.

The Rockets are in need of a starting point guard after trading away Kyle Lowry for a future draft pick. The Rockets are also in contention for Dwight Howard.

Coming off the best season of his six-year NBA career, Kyle Lowry will have a new home next season.

According to Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Toronto Raptors have secured Lowry to be their point guard after missing out on the Steve Nash sweepstakes.

Houston has reached agreement to send Kyle Lowry to the Raptors for a package that includes a future lottery pick, source tells Y!

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Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 05, 2012

Toronto will send a future first-round pick that source says "is conditional with high upside" for Houston. "Guaranteed lottery pick."

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Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 05, 2012

Lowry averaged a career-high 14.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game last season for the Rockets. He also dished out 6.6 assists per contest.

He was placed on the trading block with fellow Rockets guards Luis Scola and Kevin Martin last week. The Rockets have reportedly extended Knicks guard Jeremy Lin an offer sheet of $30 million.

Lowry confirmed via Twitter that he would no longer be a Rocket shortly after the story broke.

I just want to thank the city of Houston and the fans for showing me love like I was one of y'all own, and I'll always keep that in my heart

—
Kyle Lowry (@Klow7) July 05, 2012

The Rockets have placed Luis Scola on the trade block. (Rocky Widner/Getty Images)

After coming away with two big forwards in Thursday’s NBA Draft, the Houston Rockets have placed forward Luis Scola on the trade block, ESPN’s Marc Stein reported Saturday.

Scola joins guards Kyle Lowry and Kevin Martin — the Rockets’ three leading scorers from last season — on the trade block. Stein reports there are no specific deals on the table. The Rockets are telling teams that Scola is available.

The Rockets made a pair of trades leading up to Thursday’s draft, dealing swingman Chase Budinger and center Samuel Dalembert to add two picks in the team’s first round. The Rockets are looking to stockpile assets for an eventual run at Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard. But last Sunday, NBA.com’s David Aldridge reported that there was “no chance” Howard would stay in Houston past next season.

The Rockets took small forwards Royce White and Terrence Jones — along with guard Jeremy Lamb — in Thursday’s draft.

In the infamous vetoed three-team trade that would have sent Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers last December, the Rockets tried to send away Martin and Scola in a deal that would have brought them Pau Gasol in return.

Scola, 32, scored 15.5 points and grabbed 6.4 rebounds last season.

Dwight Howard would reportedly leave the Houston Rockets after next season if traded there. (Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Houston Rockets might want to rethink trying to pull off that run at a blockbuster trade for Dwight Howard.

NBA.com’s David Aldridge reported late Monday, citing a “source with knowledge of Howard’s thinking,” that there was “not a chance” Howard would stay in Houston for more than one season. The source told Aldridge that he would leave as an unrestricted free agent after next season.

ESPN.com reported Sunday that the Rockets were trying to acquire two top 10 picks in a furious attempt to swing a deal for Howard in advance of Thursday’s NBA Draft. The Rockets currently own the No. 14 and No. 16 picks in the draft.

Aldridge reported that the Rockets are enamored enough with acquiring Howard that they don’t mind operating under little certainty beyond this season. League sources told Aldridge that the Rockets have included both stars Kevin Martin and Kyle Lowry in trade talks. Aldridge breaks down one potential deal thrown out by a source:

One potential deal, according to a league source, would send Martin to Minnesota–presumably for the Wolves’ 18th pick in the first round–where Martin would play for former Rockets coach Rick Adelman; Martin had success playing for Adelman during their years together in Houston.

What is unclear leading up to Thursday, however, is if new Magic general manager Rob Hennigan is willing to part with Howard so quickly into his tenure. For his part, Howard has offered no sign that he plans to sign a long-term contract with the Magic.

The Rockets could move Kyle Lowry to get a top 10 pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft. (Garrett Ellwood/Getty Images)

The Houston Rockets are trying to swing a deal that will give them a top 10 pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft,  ESPN.com’s Chad Ford and Marc Stein reported Sunday night.

Citing sources, Ford and Stein reported that the Rockets are talking with both the Sacramento Kings about the No. 5 pick and with the Toronto Raptors about the No. 8 pick. The Rockets have two first-round picks — No. 14 and No. 16.

The deal breaker, though, could be point guard Kyle Lowry. Ford and Stein reported that the Raptors are significantly interested in the 26-year-old Lowry, but it remains to be seen if the Rockets are willing to part with him.

The Raptors have been especially fond of Lowry, who has been regarded for months as a borderline untouchable in Houston but more recently has publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with Rockets coach Kevin McHale. Whether the Rockets are indeed prepared to part with Lowry, as talks with the Kings, Raptors and other teams continue, figures to be one of the bigger stories of draft week.

The Rockets reportedly have eyes for Connecticut center Andre Drummond, who is regarded as the draft’s premier big man after likely No. 1 pick Anthony Davis from Kentucky.

The Houston Rockets are making their push for the playoffs, currently on the fringe of the Western Conference elites at 26-23, and they could really use the borderline All-Star talent of point guard Kyle Lowry to get them over the top. But unfortunately for them, Lowry says he may miss the rest of this season, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

“It was very scary for a while,” Lowry said of the bacterial infection that’s sidelined him almost three weeks. “I had a temperature of 104 for a couple days. It’s not a good feeling. It’s very scary, but it’s something that you learn from and you have do deal with and do what you have to do to get better.”

Lowry still doesn’t understand how the infection came about — he came down with a minor groin injury after a May 7 loss to the Toronto Raptors, and he went in for an MRI, doctors discovered another health issue altogether.

“Terrible. Horrible. Awful. Not right at all,” Lowry said of that night in Toronto. “It was just a bad ordeal for me. I was sick before the game. After the game, the guys waited for me an hour. I was trying to get an IV and they couldn’t do it. I was cold, shivering, chills. It was just a tough situation.”

Lowry has started 38 games this season for the Rockets, who sit in a three-way tie with Utah and Denver for the West’s last two playoff spots. He’s averaged 15.9 points, 7.2 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game.

There’s still smoke, and there still may be fire yet — speculation continues about the Lakers potentially trading big man Pau Gasol. Ken Berger of CBS reports today that the Lakers “are said to be serious about trading Pau Gasol in the right deal.”

One major snag, however, is that one of the Lakers’ most prominent trade partners just became a lot less attractive. The Lakers were at one point rumored to be discussing a trade with the Houston Rockets built around Gasol and Kyle Lowry, but with Lowry now out for 2-4 weeks with a bacterial infection, the Lakers find their options limited.

Another Houston trade chip is power forward Luis Scola, but the Lakers are believed to be emphasizing a slimmer payroll in dealing Gasol, and Scola still has a healthy $19.6 million left on his contract in the next two years.

Then again, considering the age of Kobe Bryant and the narrow window for this Laker team to win another championship, it might be worth the financial investment for L.A. to gamble on a big contract like Scola’s.

“If they’re going to send a message to Kobe Bryant that they’re not about winning, they’re about money,” one league source told Berger, “that’s going to set off a whole new deal.”

Rockets guard Kyle Lowry was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service and impulse-control counseling stemming from a misdemeanor battery charge this summer, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Lowry was accused of throwing a ball at an official after a game played in Las Vegas during the lockout. Because the case was a misdemeanor, Lowry was not required to appear in court today — Clark County Courts spokesperson Mary Ann Price told the Chronicle that once Lowry completes his service time, the case against him will be dismissed.

Lowry is having an All-Star caliber season for the Rockets, averaging 14.7 points, 8.0 assists, 6.2 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game.

Houston Rockets guard Kyle Lowry has been charged in a Las Vegas court with misdemeanor battery stemming from a September basketball game between Lowry and other NBA players, FOX 26 in Houston is reporting.

“We have confirmed a criminal complaint charging Kyle Lowry with one count of misdemeanor battery has been filed with the Las Vegas Justice Court,” said Tess Driver of the district attorney’s office, in an interview with the station.

According to the arrest report, Lowry got upset with Infini Robinson, a female who was officiating the game. Lowry allegedly threw a basketball into her torso and then challenged her to a fight. He later, the report states, hit her again with the ball, throwing it “at a high rate of speed.”

If convicted, Lowry could spend six months in jail. The Rockets have released a statement to the media, acknowledging the situation.

“We are aware that a complaint has been filed in Las Vegas against Kyle,” said Daryl Morey, Rockets general manager, in a statement. “We will work to get clarity on the situation. As this is a legal matter, we will not comment further.”