James Harden is a Net: What Now for The Raptors?

The Toronto Raptors were interested in Houston's James Harden, but now that he's heading to the Nets, the organization will have to reassess where they stand

The Toronto Raptors will not be getting James Harden. Instead, the 31-year-old superstar will reportedly be heading to Brooklyn to pair up with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Ramona Shelburne, and Shams Charania of The Athletic.

The full details of the trade are long and complicated:

Sources: Full current trade:

Rockets: Victor Oladipo, Dante Exum, Rodions Kurucs, 3 BKN first-rounders (22, 24, 26), 1 MIL first (22, unprotected), 4 BKN 1st round swaps (21, 23, 25, 27)

Nets: James Harden

Pacers: Caris LeVert, 2nd-rounder

Cavs: Jarrett Allen, Taurean Prince

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 13, 2021

The Raptors were one of the teams reportedly interested in Harden, but talks didn't progress far enough to be considered a finalist, according to Charania. Instead, the deal came down to offers from the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers with the Rockets settling on the Nets deal.

So what does it mean for Toronto?

On one hand, the East just got better. Harden is one of the most explosive players in the NBA and he leaves the West to create a superteam in Brooklyn. Whenever Irving returns from his strange absence, the Nets will undoubtedly be one of the best teams in the conference.

For Toronto, it might be a good time to reset, retool, or rebuild, depending on how you want to look at it. It's tough to see the Raptors being true title contenders this season and moving someone like Kyle Lowry at the deadline could help kickstart Toronto into its next competitive window. The Raptors likely won't move on from Lowry any time soon, but if things continue to look bleak heading into the March 25 trade deadline, the Raptors would be wise to ship off their franchise icon.

On the other hand, if Toronto can turn things around there's a chance they'd be buyers at the deadline. If that's the case, Bradley Beal could be on the market. Though the Washington Wizards have so far been reluctant to engage in trade talks for Beal, they don't appear to be a team contending this year and they could recoup plenty of assets for the 27-year-old star. Alternatively, there will likely be some bigs available at the deadline. It's tough to see what the centre market will look like in two months, the Cleveland Cavaliers certainly have plenty of bigs after adding Jarrett Allen on Wednesday and they might be willing to part with one of their centres.

If the Raptors are going to be buyers at the deadline they're going to have to turn things around quickly. Otherwise, Toronto might be looking at being deadline sellers for the first time in almost a decade.