Despite having found a second home in Toronto, point guard Kyle Lowry plans to opt out of his deal with the Raptors next summer, seeking a max deal that will take him into the end of his career.

The 30-year old will pass on a $12 million option to stay with the team in order to test the waters of the free-agent market and look to set himself up with a sizeable offer.

If Lowry has his way, a quick-and-painless five-year max extension with the Raptors will do the trick for him, as he loves the city and the situation he's in.

“If you’re that franchise’s guy, and you’re the guy that they’ve been rolling with, and you’ve given that franchise everything you have, yeah, I think [the talks] should be easy,” Lowry told Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. “I think it should be a situation where a guy shouldn’t have to talk to another team. DeMar (DeRozan) didn’t have the chance to talk to another team.”

“For me, I think that at 12:01 a.m. on July 1 – something should be close. If not, I’m open to seeing what else is out there.”

If the Philadelphia native was to have exploratory talks with other teams during his free agency stint, he'd join the elite company of fellow point guards Chris Paul and Stephen Curry, who said he's likely to re-sign with the Warriors next offseason.

“Kyle has been at the forefront of the Raptor movement,” said Raptors GM Masai Ujiri. “How he goes, we go. He has helped establish a culture that will grow even more. We really appreciate that. He is a winner, and we want to win.”

Lowry has spearheaded his team into the playoffs, getting better each of the four years he's spent with the franchise. He made the most significant improvement last offseason, shedding 20 pounds and making himself the most fit he had been in his NBA career.

The numbers translated into career-highs of 21.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 2.1 steals, and 2.8 three-pointers made per game while shooting a career-best 38.8 percent from deep.

Kyle Lowry has moved into the conversation of being one of the best point guards in the league and he'll look to get paid like one next year, whether it's in Toronto or somewhere else.