The Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks and Charlotte Hornets each finished with 48 wins in 2015-16 while the Washington Wizards took a step back by missing out on the playoffs with a .500 record. Two of those four teams made substantial changes this summer and it will be very interesting to see how things shake out in terms of contending for a playoff spot next season. Here is a look at the offseason grades for every NBA Southeast division team.
Miami Heat
Offseason Grades: D-
It’s hard to give the Heat the benefit of the doubt following a brutal offseason in which they took major hits both in terms of their roster and from a public relations standpoint. Luol Deng, Joe Johnson, Gerald Green and Amar’e Stoudamire were all allowed to walk but the real issue was the way the Dwyane Wade situation unfolded. Miami handed Hassan Whiteside a max contract, offered Kevin Durant a max contract and then suddenly became very stingy when it came to resigning the most important player in franchise history. Wade ultimately left to join his hometown Chicago Bulls and while he is clearly no longer in his prime it is still a major loss for a Heat team that suffered many of them this offseason. The decision to bring back Tyler Johnson as a restricted free agent after the Brooklyn Nets offered him big money was smart and keeping Whiteside is important but those two moves are barely enough to earn a passing grade for a very disappointing offseason.
Atlanta Hawks
Offseason Grades: B
Atlanta managed to turn Jeff Teague in to an extra 2016 first round pick while handing the starting point guard job over to Dennis Schroder. Bringing back Kent Bazemore solidifies their backcourt and the Hawks are high on both DeAndre Bembry and Taurean Prince as their stud rookie tandem. Atlanta lost Al Horford, but they managed to replace him with Dwight Howard, who returns home with an opportunity to make a tremendous impact in the Eastern Conference. Howard has the potential to be one of the better centers in the conference and if the center swap works out then the Hawks could be a legitimate contender at the top of the East once again.
Charlotte Hornets
Offseason Grades: C
The Hornets brought back Nicolas Batum and Marvin Williams, but they struggled to address the losses of Al Jefferson and Jeremy Lin despite bringing in Marco Belinelli. Belinelli will factor in to their backcourt rotation but Roy Hibbert will be a downgrade from Al Jefferson while Ramon Sessions will be a downgrade from Courtney Lee. Charlotte deserves credit for bringing back two key players in Batum and Williams but their failure to upgrade in other spots and their loss of a couple of key player players will ultimately hurt them looking forward to next season.
Washington Wizards
Offseason Grades: B+
It made sense for Washington to keep Bradley Beal in the fold but the fact that it cost them $128 million drew a ton of criticism. The Wizards didn’t make the playoffs with Beal a year ago, but fortunately they did make some other moves that will help their chances of reaching the postseason in 2016-17. Trey Burke is a strong addition after he really came in to his own in his final season with the Utah Jazz while adding Ian Mahinmi and Andrew Nicholson makes a lot of sense to help the Wizards up front. Washington’s starting five is talented enough to contend for the playoffs this coming season and their improved depth could be the key to them bouncing back.
Orlando Magic
Offseason Grades: C+
The Magic are coming off a very busy offseason but that doesn’t mean it was an entirely positive one. Orlando traded its All-Star point guard Victor Oladipo as part of a massive package to land Serge Ibaka from the Oklahoma City Thunder and they failed to bring back Brandon Jennings and Andrew Nicholson among others. Orlando brought in Bismack Biyombo and Jeff Green and while both players are talented they now clearly have a surplus of big men. The Magic will need to find adequate minutes for Ibaka, Biyombo, Green and Gordon while also needing guards like Elfrid Payton and Evan Fournier to step up in order to replace the departed Oladipo. Orlando could be an improved team in 2016-17 but we need to take a wait-and-see approach to see what happens this coming season before we give them a better grade.
