The Southeast Division featured an incredibly close battle at the top last season when the Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks and Charlotte Hornets all finished with 48 wins. The Heat won the division based on the tiebreaker but after a disappointing offseason where they lost stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, they should be in line to fall back somewhat this season. So who steps up and takes their place at the top? Atlanta and even the Washington Wizards poised to take advantage. Here is a look at what to expect in the NBA Southeast division this season.
Winner: Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks shook things up in the offseason when they traded away veteran guard Jeff Teague and allowed Al Horford to walk in free agency because a salary crunch forced their hand. But Teague struggled down the stretch of the season and Dennis Schroder was clearly ready for the starting point guard duties and the team did sign Dwight Howard to replace Horford. Schroder will give Atlanta good minutes at the point guard position and should form a strong backcourt tandem with Kyle Korver. Meanwhile, Paul Millsap returns as the leader up front and he will look to prove he is worth the money that the Hawks are paying him. Atlanta isn’t very deep beyond its starting five so there could be problems if they run in to injury issues. However, this team is more than talented enough to compete for a division title all things considered. The Miami Heat are primed to take a step back this season while teams like Washington, Charlotte and Orlando are still question marks.
Biggest Surprise: Washington Wizards
The Wizards are too talented to miss the playoffs for a second consecutive season. Head coach Randy Wittman was fired as a result and Scott Brooks was brought in. The expectation is that they will bounce back this year and finish among the top eight in the Eastern Conference. Brooks is an experienced head coach who developed the Thunder into a perennial contender and should be able to coach up this team opposed to Wittman. The players seemed to underachieve under his guidance.
John Wall and Bradley Beal will form one of the most talented backcourt tandems in the Eastern Conference and Washington added Trey Burke and Marcus Thornton to come off the bench behind them. Meanwhile, Markieff Morris’ first season with the Wizards was underwhelming but he has the raw talent to be a solid starter in the Eastern Conference if he could get his focus right. Morris will team with Marcin Gortat with Ian Mahinmi up front with Jason Smith behind them.
The Wizards have a couple of youngsters that need to develop but if they do, this team could emerge as one of the top four in the Eastern Conference. Otto Porter Jr. and Kelly Oubre have shown flashes at times, so it’s possible that one of them breaks out. After underachieving for years, the Wizards look like they have plenty of room to the upside.
Biggest Disappointment: Orlando Magic
The Magic shocked the basketball world when they traded Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova and first-round pick Domantas Sabonis to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Serge Ibaka. That is a massive haul for the Thunder in return for a veteran forward. Ibaka is an excellent defensive presence and a solid offensive piece, but he also joins a frontcourt that is extremely crowded. Orlando also signed Bismack Biyombo to a substantial deal, which leaves them with a logjam up front with Ibaka, Biyombo, Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon all looking for their share of minutes. Factor in how thin the Magic are at the guard positions after shipping away Oladipo and it leads us to believe that this team will struggle. Elfrid Payton and Mario Hezonja are penciled in as the starters in the backcourt but Payton has been a disappointment and Hezonja hasn’t proven much as of yet.
It’s clear that after a busy offseason Orlando will be in tough to improve on the 35 wins that it recorded a year ago as the worst team in the Southeast division again this season. New head coach Frank Vogel has his work cut out for him.
