NBA Free Agency 2017: 5 reasons Kyle Lowry should leave the Toronto Raptors

4. The Eastern Conference is loaded, and it’s time for Lowry to compete.

This year’s NBA Playoffs have proven one major thing that is surely on Lowry’s mind: this is LeBron James’ world and the Eastern Conference is just living in it.

King James is dominating everyone who comes in contact with the Cleveland Cavaliers in this postseason, plain and simple. The Cavs shut down the Indiana Pacers in the first round, swept Lowry’s Raptors in the conference semifinals, and are looking absolutely unstoppable as they advance to another conference finals. LeBron will appear in his seventh straight Eastern Conference Finals in a week, and he’s proving how impossible it is to succeed in his conference.

On another side, the Boston Celtics have emerged as a strong team in the East, and they’re building up a dynasty with their talented roster and high picks in the upcoming draft. Between Isaiah Thomas, Al Horford, Avery Bradley, and a young stud in Jaylen Brown, this lineup isn’t going anywhere soon unless injuries plague the team.

The Raptors find themselves stuck as the third best team in the conference, and proved it with their third seed in this year’s bracket. The Celtics will keep improving, the Cavaliers simply can’t be bested by any of these teams while LeBron is still LeBron, and everyone else is stuck.

If Lowry wants to achieve his goals of really doing damage in the postseason, he’ll either have to build a super-team like the Avengers in Philly and figure out how to beat the Cavs, or he has to leave the conference. If the money was right, the Spurs would provide an interesting option, depending on Tony Parker’s status, and he could do damage on that roster.