Of all three divisions in the Eastern Conference, the strength of the teams in the Southeast Division seems to be the most evenly distributed. The Washington Wizards won the division last season by 6.0 games over the second-place Atlanta Hawks. However, this season may be a different story. The Wizards kept their core players intact and John Wall should be a handful to deal with again this season. The Atlanta Hawks should experience another year of regression, with the departure of Al Horford and Jeff Teague in 2016 along with Paul Millsap and Dwight Howard in 2017. The Miami Heat, after going on one of the most unexpected surges last season, are poised to come back even stronger this season. Meanwhile, the Charlotte Hornets look to be a solid team this season with the addition of Howard. Lastly, the Orlando Magic are a bit of a wild card team, resting largely on the performance of a lot of their younger players.
One Team That Will Overachieve: Miami Heat
Regular Season Win Total: 43.5
After witnessing what the Heat were able to accomplish last season despite losing Dwyane Wade and suffering injury after injury to their players, if the team can stay healthy this year, they may have a decent shot at winning the division. The Heat are loaded with relatively solid players, though not great – Goran Dragic, James Johnson, Tyler Johnson, Kelly Olynyk, Josh Richardson, Dion Waiters, Hassan Whiteside, and Justise Winslow. They’re a deep team, with their bench players just as capable of producing as the starting five. They are also a well-coached team as head coach Erik Spoelstra has proving to be one of the best young minds in the game.
After barely missing the playoffs last year, the Heat should come out this season with a vengeance and should improve from their 41-41 record last season in a much weaker Eastern Conference. Consider betting them over. They should be better than a .500 team,
One Team That Will Disappoint: Atlanta Hawks
Regular Season Win Total: 25.5
My prediction is that the Hawks will finish off as the worst team in the Southeast Division. After posting the best record in the Eastern Conference during the 2014-15 season, the Hawks have taken huge steps backward. Their roster is barely recognizable from the 2014-15 season that saw the team exceed expectations by a longshot. This season however, the opposite will likely hold true. You could probably make an argument that the best player on the Hawks’ roster this season is Dennis Schroder, who is a slightly above-average player at best. If Schroder is your team’s best player, your team won’t be getting anywhere.
Best Bet To Win The Division: Washington Wizards
Regular Season Win Total: 21.5
It might be a close race between three teams in the Southeast division – the Wizards, Heat, and Hornets. However, I’m leaning towards either the Wizards or Heat. The Wizards have stars in Wall and Bradley Beal, along with reliable contributors in Marcin Gortat, Markieff Morris, and Otto Porter Jr. On the other hand, the Heat possess much more depth compared to the Wizards – it’s not like the Wizards’ bench got much better this season. I’m torn between these two teams, since if both teams can stay relatively healthy throughout the entire season, I’d side with the Wizards to win the division, though barely. However, if injuries were to occur with either Wall or Beal, the latter being much more injury-prone, I don’t think the Wizards will be able to withstand the loss of either player for a prolonged period. If Wall is injured, the Wizards have no chance of winning the division, let alone making the playoffs. Conversely, the Heat will be much better at sustaining their performance even with injuries, due to their depth. With the Wizards at -111 to win the division and the Heat at +200 to win the division, I’ll go with the Heat as I believe there’s value in this bet.
Odds To Win The Southeast Division
Washington Wizards -130
Miami Heat +250
Charlotte Hornets +350
Orlando Magic +4000
Atlanta Hawks +10000
The 2017 NBA futures are out. It’s been a wild offseason already, but keep an eye on the betting lines as they move around at Diamond Sportsbook! Get the latest NBA betting lines right here.
