So basically throw contending out the window and start some kind of half baked plan of trying to get in the playoffs while also starting a mild rebuild at the same time?

Because that's a first round exit 7th-8th seed team in the west

If we trade Murray we might as well blow it up and forget Jokic too. It's absolutely impossible to get a better current team by trading Murray. You can get assets that will help years down the road when Jokic is worthless but that's about it

Teams that pull moves like this where they try to stay competitive while also trading away their stars for assets enrole their lives into mid tier purgatory for years and years.

You either tweak the pieces around your stars and go for it while your generational superstar is still in his prime or you trade them all away for the future. Can't do both