The Toronto Raptors have been struggling mightily throughout the start of the season. While they do have a significant chance at turning around their campaign against the Sacramento Kings on Friday, it'll be a hurdle now without one of their key stars. Kyle Lowry, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times, has been listed as out for personal reasons:

Without Lowry, the Raptors will be depending heavily on Fred VanVleet to carry the workload in the backcourt. FVV has been instrumental in the little success that Toronto has had this season, and head coach Nick Nurse will hope he can handle the extra work against the Kings.

Lowry has been nothing short of his star-like stature despite the early-season trials. The 34-year-old guard is averaging 19.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 7.4 assists  for the season. He's also connecting on 43.4 percent of his shots from the field.

While Kyle Lowry has showed his normal performances so far, the same can't be said for the Raptors. They're currently 1-6 through their first seven games, with  their sole win coming against the New York Knicks.

The Raptors took a few blows this offseason after losing some of their key members in Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol. As it stands, the chips didn't fall in their favor as they tried to convince both bigs to remain in Toronto and ultimately ended up with neither.

For Ibaka, playing behind Gasol reportedly became an issue in itself. The Raptors have bulked up the frontcourt with Aron Baynes.

The Kings hold a 4-4 record at the moment as they continue to try and maintain some of their early-season successes.