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Chicago Bulls

It's all gone to heck in a handbasket for the Bulls. Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade went rogue, Rajon Rondo is playing the part of martyr, too many of Chicago's youngsters seem to have stalled out and Fred Hoiberg—good guy though he may be—hasn't had the chops to handle all the chaos.

So maybe it's time for the front office pair of Gar Forman and John Paxson to pull the plug on this group. Or for team owner Jerry Reinsdorf to show them the door.

Except, for all their struggles, the Bulls might still be good enough to crack the East's top eight. That could be enough to keep this tire fire rolling through the finish line.

Indiana Pacers

The Pacers are in the postseason picture, too—almost comfortably so—despite Monta Ellis playing the worst basketball of his pro career.

How bad has he been? Allow ESPN.com's Zach Lowe to explain: "Have you noticed Ellis doesn't, like, do anything for the Pacers? He's taking only 9.3 shots per 36 minutes; he has never averaged below 12.9 attempts per 36 minutes in any other season. His free throws and assists are down, and if Ellis doesn't have the ball, he is useless."

Trouble is, Indiana can't shake things up too much, lest it gives Paul George any more reason to let his eyes wander. And moving Ellis at this point might be darn near Herculean as he's owed $11.2 million next year and has a player option for $11.7 million in 2018-19. Yikes.

New Orleans Pelicans

The Pelicans are on pace to waste yet another spectacular season from Anthony Davis. That is, unless the front office can find a way to further retool its roster around the Brow on the fly.

New Orleans, though, lacks the assets to make that happen midseason. Their best non-Davis players (i.e., Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans, Terrence Jones) are all on expiring contracts, so the Pelicans aren't likely to get much in return for them as rentals. And Holiday looks like the type of player they'd want to retain around Davis.

At this point, New Orleans might not need to make any moves to sink toward the bottom or swim its way into the playoff race.

New York Knicks

The Knicks appear eager to join the tanking party. Phil Jackson has shopped Carmelo Anthony seemingly everywhere other than eBay, though the no-trade clause he put in the contract his superstar (signed during the summer of 2014) has hamstrung those efforts.

Unloading Anthony would move New York one step closer to handing over the franchise's reins to Kristaps Porzingis. But is the 21-year-old sophomore ready to soak up the brightest lights the Big Apple has to offer?

The Knicks could take the next half season to find out. If it works, hope will spring eternal (again) at Madison Square Garden. If not, they'll likely wind up with a prime pick in a 2017 draft loaded with blue-chip talent to install around their lanky Latvian.