The Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks and Charlotte Hornets each represented the Southeast division in this year’s playoffs with the Washington Wizards getting bumped out of a spot while the Orlando Magic continued to rebuild with 35 wins. All five teams will enter this offseason with obvious areas of need that they will look to address in order to contend for a playoff spot next season. Here is a look at the biggest NBA Draft team need for each Southeast division team.
Miami Heat (48-34)
Biggest Draft Need: Scoring Wing
Miami was unfortunate to lose Hassan Whiteside and Chris Bosh for the playoffs when they needed those two players the most but both players are expected to be back for the start of next season. Dwyane Wade showed that he has at least one more year left in him but the Heat need to start looking to the future and they could really use some help on the wing. Miami was far too reliant on jump shots in their playoff series loss to Toronto and the biggest problem was their inability to shoot the three-ball on a consistent basis. The Heat can address that issue with the addition of a scoring winger at the NBA Draft as they look to add a talented young piece that can consistently stretch the floor.
Atlanta Hawks (48-34)
Biggest NBA Draft Need: Center
The Hawks will do whatever they can to bring back Al Horford and Kent Bazemore but they will have a difficult time coming up with the money to bring back both. Losing Horford would be the bigger problem of the two but Atlanta needs to invest in a strong young veteran center that can rebound anyways and even if they do bring back Horford this should be their primary area of need. The Hawks have some intriguing talent throughout their lineup and should be a playoff team once again but they need to get better in the paint and on the boards in particularly.
Charlotte Hornets (48-34)
Biggest NBA Draft Need: Shooting Guard
Charlotte is another team in danger of losing multiple starters with a chance that Al Jefferson, Marvin Williams and Nicolas Batum could all be gone this summer. That would be very disappointing as this team finally reached new heights this season.
The Hornets will do what it takes to keep those players in the fold and if they can then their focus will remain on the shooting guard position where they definitely need help. Kemba Walker has emerged as one of the bright young point guards in the NBA but Charlotte needs more scoring help and a talented, pure scorer at the shooting guard position is the biggest area of need.
Washington Wizards (41-41)
Biggest Draft Need: Power Forward
The fact that the Wizards missed the playoffs entirely last season should be extremely alarming and a clear sign they need to upgrade their frontcourt moving forward. Nene is past his prime and while Marcin Gortat is serviceable, he isn’t the best option to work with John Wall. Washington needs a talented, two-way power forward that can play at a high level on defense but also contribute on offense playing off of Wall’s ability at the point guard position. The back court is set with Wall and Brad Beal. It wouldn’t be a surprise if they targeted a power forward in the NBA Draft.
Orlando Magic (35-47)
Biggest NBA Draft Need: Best Player Available
The Magic have some young talent at a number of positions, but it is still early in their rebuilding process. At this point, it doesn’t make sense to go into the NBA Draft and select a player based on position of need. Orlando will take the best player available with their first round pick with the hope that they can find a superstar that will help accelerate the process of them making it back to the playoffs in the not-too-distant future. This is a franchise that has changed coaches and directions a few times recently, and now they’re going to do so again now that Scott Skiles abruptly resigned and Frank Vogel was hired to take over.
