The trade deadline is coming. We sit roughly 2.5 weeks away from the panic and chaos of the Feb. 6, 3 p.m. ET buzzer sounding as teams scramble to figure out exactly where their rosters should be. Some of the answers will be obvious. Teams like the Atlanta Hawks, New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers know their seasons have sunk. They’re looking to position themselves for ping pong balls and future assets while sending veterans to greener and more contending pastures.



Yes, the East has a lot of teams still in the mix, but the really bad ones are being separated from reasonable playoff hopes daily. In the East, just four teams are within five games of the No. 8 seed. The West doesn’t have progressively more downtrodden hopes as we get deeper into the season. Only the Golden State Warriors are outside of that five-game reach to the West’s final playoff position.



As poor as the seasons of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings have been,...