While some might see the Kyle Lowry injury as horrible timing, and it is, there is also a little glimmer of positivity which has come from it. The Raptors have struggled so much this season without Kyle Lowry before the arrival of Serge Ibaka.
Per NBAwowy, the Raptors have a -7 net rating in 717 minutes with Serge and Lowry off the court.
While the offense has been alright, it has been very one dimensional as it is pretty much the DeMar DeRozan show. DeRozan sports a 42% usage rate with these two off, and though he gets his, he has a very low 19% assist rate considering that high usage rate. Furthermore, he actually leads the team in assist rate in this scenario. This is a reflection of how little the ball moves around, and the creativity and of the offense becomes lacking.
While some can immediately blame DeMar, and there is some blame there for the struggles with stagnation, he really has no help. Cory Joseph, DeMarre Carroll, Patrick Patterson and Lucas Nogueira have played the lions share of minutes in the scenario without Lowry and Serge. None of these guys with the exception of Cory Joseph can create anything off the dribble. It has made it easier for defenses to take risks, and double or triple team DeMar. Without many set plays and off ball action for the Raptors, it is hard to really expect much of a different result, and it is impressive that DeRozan has been so productive and relatively efficient to what you’d expect given the attention he has received.
The Raptors really lacked a floor spacer, and someone who can create shots for himself in multiple ways on the offensive end. Serge has done that. While Patrick Patterson is known as a floor spacer himself, Serge has been cashing in on his 3s at close to a 40% clip this season, and the looks he is getting on the Raptors are very good. Serge has been a much needed remedy to the Raptors without Kyle Lowry, and you can argue that he has saved the Raptors season, as this team was destined to drop big time without Serge.
The Raptors net rating with Serge and without Lowry is +4, and the offense has been a slight improvement as well. Here is a big reason why:
Example One:
Here is a picture of Demar Derozan seemingly pulling up for a terrible shot. While it might surprise you, he actually didn’t take the shot. He finally had some trust in his teammates, and made this pass:
Serge has shot 45% threes with the Raptors, and teams are going to have to start second guessing whether or not doubling DeMar is a good idea. Any time you get the opportunity for a 1 on 1 with DeRozan, it is a good thing. Serge Ibaka is making this possible by consistently burying teams for leaving him open.
It has been nice to see DeRozan trusting Serge, as Serge has actually taken close to five three pointers per game with the Raptors. This is by far the most of his career.
Example Two:
Yet another Demar double team is shown here, and while many could argue that Patrick Patterson has the same effect, a simple pick and pop doesn’t always do the trick. 
Demar kicks this ball out to Patterson, who seems to have a good look. However, against a good team like Washington, Markieff Morris closed out extremely quickly. 
However, on a closeout that fast, Markieff had too much momentum, so Patterson got around him, but the defense wound up surrounding him again.
Let’s think back to the Raptors before Serge and pretend that Serge at the three point line is really Bebe or Siakam. Patterson would have been stuck in a double, Derozan likely would have ran back to get a hand off, and with just 9 seconds on the shot clock, it likely would have ended up in a low percentage shot at the end of the clock. Instead, with Serge’s spacing, Patterson has an easy kick out, and Serge wound up hitting the three pointer.
So, instead of a likely wasted possession, the Raptors had another kick out option with a wide open three from a 40% shooter. That’ll help every offense that is struggling with stagnation. If Wall closed out in time, with Wright cutting to the basket, Serge could have swung the ball to Carroll for another open three. Having this additional stretch big is an absolutely massive addition, because he can also put the ball on the floor and create a shot closer for the basket, unlike Patterson, who had to do that kick out. However, if that option was not there, Patterson would have struggled to create any sort of quality look on his own.
On the defensive end, Serge has been really valuable in terms of guarding any position. His ability to switch on the perimeter as well as protect the rim, makes him invaluable and unlike any big on the Raptors. He is a mix of Patrick Patterson and Bismack Biyombo, and that is always a good thing on the defensive end. Though the rebounds aren’t like Bismack, Bismack was also rarely asked to leave the key and guard outside.
Here is an example of the switching that the Raptors simply cannot do when Valanciunas is on the floor at the five.
On this play at the end of the Blazers game, a Meyers Leonard screen and handoff forces, Serge to switch on to Damian Lillard. A big man on the perimeter is usually something that Lillard relishes, but Serge’s defense was too much to handle.
After 6 seconds of dribbling around, Lillard simply couldn’t get a look at a three, but also couldn’t even make a move to blow by Serge to get the easy two and extend the game. Instead he was forced to pass the ball off to McCollum.
After McCollum missed a floater, Serge flew in from the perimeter and skied in over everyone to grab his first double double as a Raptor.
Here’s hoping it’ll be the first of many more, because Ibaka has made the Raptors infinitely better, and it’ll be exciting to see how far this team can go when Kyle Lowry is healthy.
