Toronto Raptors: 5 goals for Kyle Lowry in 2017-18

1. Lead the Raptors to a top-two seed in the Eastern Conference

As far as the regular season is concerned, the Eastern Conference is currently wide open.

Last season’s conference finalists, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics, have swapped point guards, and the composition of their respective rosters has changed notably over the summer. As a result, their performance in the upcoming regular season is hard to ascertain at present, simply due to the high volume of change and uncertainty surrounding each roster.

Furthermore, the offseason has seen the departure of four All-Stars to the Western Conference: Paul George, Jimmy Butler, Carmelo Anthony and Paul Millsap. The loss of this talent is such that none off the teams these players have departed are expected to make the playoffs this season.

Therefore, with an even further depleted Eastern Conference, the Raptors remain one of the few holdover playoff teams to keep their key core intact. With this being the case, the Raptors need to utilize their continuity as a team to rack up as many wins as possible in order to grab a top-two seed in the East. With such an amazing crowd, a top-two seed would see them holding home-court advantage for the first two rounds of the playoffs.

Coming off consecutive 50-win seasons in a weakened conference, repeating this and earning a top-two seed is certainly within reason.

Next: HoopsHabit 2017-18 NBA playoff field predictions

And if any All-Star in recent years is well overdue for a coming-out party in the playoffs, it’s Kyle Lowry.