Portland Trail Blazers
Knee-jerk move: Trading Scoot Henderson
I wouldn't say it's surprising that the Portland Trail Blazers have struggled this season. But the fact that their young core continues to leave much to be desired is not a great development. However, despite their continued struggles as a team, I still wouldn't advise the Blazers to make a bold move like trading one of their key young foundations. For as much as Scoot Henderson has struggled to find his path in the NBA, trading him at this point would be a massive mistake for the franchise.
For as much stock as they placed into the eventual development of Scoot, giving up on him after just year 2 at the age of 20 would be an even bigger mistake than trading Damian Lillard for the poor return that they did a couple of offseasons ago. Sure, things do look bleak moving forward for the Blazers but it would be completely insane for Portland to make the knee-jerk move of trading Scoot even as he continues to struggle at the NBA level.
Sacramento Kings
Knee-jerk move: Trading Keegan Murray
The Sacramento Kings are in a difficult situation at the moment. After making the move for DeMar DeRozan and hoping that he could help take this team to the next level, the Kings have been a disaster when it comes to inconsistency so far this season. The Kings are under .500 and are currently sitting outside the top 10 in the Western Conference standings. With little hope of climbing out of this hole, it wouldn't be surprising for the team to explore a nuclear option at the NBA Trade Deadline.
Looking at their roster, that nuclear option could be trading Keegan Murray. As a player who has not quite made that star jump in his development, and with the regression he's made so far this season, if the Kings are desperate enough, Murray could be on the table heading into the trade deadline - especially if they want to make the De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis build work. If something doesn't click for the team during the second half of the season, it could make for one huge offseason full of changes for the franchise. At least for now, trading Murray should not be something the team explores.