The wait is finally over, basketball fans. Another NBA season is right around the corner this season is going to be chock full of storylines galore from all 30 teams. It’s time to cue up Andy Williams’ “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” as we take a look at what to expect heading into the 2019-2020 NBA season, starting off with the Southeast Division.
The Miami Heat bid farewell to Dwyane Wade, while also trading away Hassan Whiteside and Josh Richardson to Portland and Philadelphia respectively to acquire Meyers Leonard and their star player, Jimmy Butler. In addition to the offseason acquisitions, Miami would also draft Tyler Herro from Kentucky and KZ Okpala (pronounced Ock-pal-la) from Stanford. Miami seems to be trending into the right direction after a dismal last season, which saw them miss the playoffs and wind up in the ninth place. Keep an eye on Justise Winslow and Bam Adebayo (pronounced Ah-de-buy-yo) as they look to have a breakout season for the Heat, possibly early considerations for Most Improved Player of the year candidacies. Speaking of improvements, players such as Goran Dragic, James Johnson, and Dion Waiters, who were injury prone through much of last season, will look to bounce back in a big way.
The Orlando Magic saw big things from Nikola Vucevic (pronounced Voo-ce-vich) last season, as he not only became an all-star for their franchise, but also lead them into the playoffs for the first time in seven years, albeit a first round exit against the eventual champion Toronto Raptors. Nevertheless, the Magic secured Vucevic during the free agency period, while also keeping their core intact and acquiring Al-Farouq Aminu (pronounced Al Fa-rooq Ah-meen-nu). Much like the Heat, the Magic will see improvements from Evan Fournier (pronounced Four-nier), Aaron Gordon, Terrence Ross, Mo Bamba, and Jonathan Issac. The Magic will no doubt be as competitive as they were last season, even more so, defend the Southeast Division crown.
The Atlanta Hawks were once again back in the draft lottery, as they would select De’Andre Hunter from Virginia and Cam Reddish from Duke. The Hawks were also busy in the free agency period as they would acquire Evan Turner, Chandler Parsons, Allen Crabbe, and Jabari Parker, while also dealing away Taurean Prince (pronounce Tah-ree-an), Omari Spellman, Kent Bazemore, and Dewayne Dedmon. Despite the Hawks’ busy offseason moves, they are still a young team, as evidenced by Kevin Huerter (pronounced Hurter), John Collins, and Trae Young, who showed much improvement during the second half of last season. Some are intrigued by the Hawks as a team to keep an eye on this season, while some believe that they will be back in the draft lottery again. Whatever the case may be, the Hawks are trending in the right direction, but which direction that may be, will have to be revealed as the season unfurls.
The Charlotte Hornets traded away Kemba Walker to Boston in exchange for Terry Rozier (pronounced Ro-geer) and drafting P.J. Washington from Duke. Along with the departure of Walker, the Hornets also saw Frank Kaminsky (pronounced Ka-min-skee) and Jeremy Lamb exit, as well as the retirement of Tony Parker. The Hornets still have their core players of Marvin Williams, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Willy Hernangomez (pronounced Her-nan-gomez), and Nic Batum (pronounced Ba-toom), but even with all of that, the Hornets are still lacking. I’m not sure what to make of these Hornets other than seeing them as a draft lottery team for a while.
The Washington Wizards had a dismal last season, which saw John Wall out with an injury for much of the campaign and distracting issues with Dwight Howard. The only positive outlook that the Wizards had for that season was Bradley Beal. In the draft, Washington would draft Japanese power forward Rui Hachimura (pronounced Ru-we Hah-chee-myu-rah) from Gonzaga and British small forward Admiral Schofield (pronounced Show-field) from Tennessee. Along with the draft picks, the Wizards acquired Isaiah Thomas, Mo Wagner, and Davis Bertans during the free agency period, while trading away Jeff Green, Tomas Satoransky (pronounced Sat-tor-ran-skee), Bobby Portis, Trevor Ariza (pronounced Ah-ree-zah), and the aforementioned Howard. Washington won’t have Wall when their season starts, and they probably won’t have Beal when the midseason trade deadline rolls around. They’ll be fortunate to have him around for the remainder of the season, if they’re lucky, but even as next July’s free agency period rolls around, the Wizards will most likely trade Beal away, possibly for draft picks. The Wizards are going to be in rebuild mode, but they may have a new foundation in Hachimura and Schofield.
The Southeast Division looks to be the weakest of the three divisions in the Eastern Conference, but that doesn’t mean you’re not going to see any highly competitive teams play down the stretch in the fourth quarter either. Keep in mind, only one team from this division made it into last year’s playoffs, and that was the Magic. If the Magic’s projected success is anything to rely on, we could see Orlando back in the playoffs again, but they won’t be the only team to emerge out of that division heading into the postseason by themselves. Here are my standings predictions for the Southeast Division.
Southeast Division Predicted Standings:
Miami
Orlando
Atlanta
Charlotte
Washington
And that was a look at the Southeast Division. In the next article, I will be breaking down the Atlantic Division and how some key teams would fare against each other.
The Heat Check Magazine 