Brooklyn Nets
Knee-jerk move: Trading Nic Claxton
To be perfectly honest, there's a good chance that the Brooklyn Nets end up being quite active leading up to the NBA Trade Deadline. However, there is one move that the Nets could make that would reveal an entirely different level of desperation - and it's if the team moves to trade Nic Claxton. Brooklyn could end up trading Cameron Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith, Dennis Schroder, or even Cam Thomas. If the Nets were to do that, there would be perfectly good explanations for each of those moves. However, if they were to trade Claxton, it would be quite an odd move.
The team just signed Claxton to a huge deal and, from all indications, view him as a crucial piece of their next build. Should they just trade him at this year's deadline, it would bring about so many questions about the direction of the franchise. I can't imagine it happening but I suppose it can't be considered completely off the table at this point. Trading Claxton would express the level of desperation that would be concerning even for a franchise that is almost certainly at the start of a completely new rebuild.
Charlotte Hornets
Knee-jerk move: Trading young players for a veteran scorer
I'm not exactly sure who the Charlotte Hornets could end up targeting via trade at the deadline that would completely out them as being desperate, but I do believe any deal that sees them trade any of their young pieces for a veteran scorer would be considered a knee-jerk and somewhat unnecessary. After some encouraging early signs this season, the Hornets have hit a huge rough spot at this point in the season. They've lost eight games in a row and have the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference.
At this point, this is not exactly how the front office could've envisioned this season going. Nevertheless, this is the growing pains of a rebuild. But as we inch closer to the NBA Trade Deadline, there could be that draw for the Hornets to make a bold move in an attempt to skip a few steps in their rebuild. Charlotte is not necessarily at that point just yet. They should continue to be patient and allow their young stars to develop at their respective paces. There may be a time when trading for a veteran will make sense for the Hornets, it's just not now.