When free agency begins in less than two days, the Toronto Raptors will be heading into a critical period that could have a drastic effect on the long-term future of the franchise.

All-Star guard Kyle Lowry is set to become an unrestricted free agent with the ability to sign with any team. It is also a major decision that teammate DeMar DeRozan has voiced that he would be fine with based on one condition, according to Joseph Casciaro of theScore.

“As long as he tells me, and I don't have to read it, I'm completely fine with it,” DeRozan told theScore on Wednesday, when asked how he'd react to the worst-case scenario of Lowry departing Toronto.

“If he comes to me as a man and tells me it's time to move on, I'll respect it. It's just the choices in life we have to deal with. You're kind of more accepting when somebody close to you like that tells you before they do something, so you're not surprised just like everybody else. As a friend – me calling myself his friend – I have to just respect it.”

This comes a week after DeRozan stated that he wouldn't get involved in the decision-making process for Lowry and allow him to make up his mind on his own. This latest statement from the three-time All-Star demonstrates once again that he has already come to peace with whatever choice that the 31-year-old makes next month.

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Although it's a calm approach to the situation, it also doesn't evoke much confidence that Lowry will re-sign with the Raptors. Instead, it lets off the perception that there is a realistic chance that he may have already played his last game with the team.

With Lowry paired alongside DeRozan, Toronto has become a constant in the playoffs by reaching the postseason in four straight years and topping 50 wins in the regular season in each of the last two campaigns. Despite that, it may be the Raptors' inability to break through in the Eastern Conference that leads him to possibly making the jump to another team.

Whatever decision that Lowry makes, all that DeRozan asks is to just be personally informed.