Portland Trail Blazers
1 Biggest problem: Their young core is underwhelming or can't stay healthy
I continue to harp on this point as it pertains to the Portland Trail Blazers because I think it's important. Part of the reason why the front office was so willing to part ways with Damian Lillard last summer was due to the fact that they had what they considered to be one of the best and most talented young cores in the league. But over the past two seasons, the team's young core has either been underwhelming or they can't stay healthy. That's certainly been the case this season as Scoot Henderson has left much to be desired and Shaedon Sharpe has only played in two games.
Interestingly enough, the one "young" player on their roster who continues to impress is the one that the team clearly isn't considered to be a foundation piece of the future. Anfernee Simons continues to be highly productive but may not have a future with the team as they were looking to offload him during the offseason. Who knows if the Blazers have changed their stance on Simons but it's far from an ideal situation for the team.
Sacramento Kings
1 Biggest problem: The West is too deep
The Sacramento Kings have done everything they can do to not only keep pace with the rest of the Western Conference but also put themselves in the best position to potentially emerge as a dark horse contender. But over the past two seasons, as this core has potentially reached its ceiling, one thing has become clear for the franchise. And it's that the West is too deep and too talented. Nearly 10 games into this season, that has to be considered the team's biggest problem at the moment.
It's not that the Kings aren't a good team, because they are. At this point, I can't help but wonder if this is the ceiling for this core. If there isn't another developmental step forward, which may not be in the cards, I'm not sure if the Kings are any better than the 5th or 6th best team in the conference. That may be an overstatement too. Sacramento has some figuring out to do about their future and I can't imagine any of those conversations will be easy to have.