NBA Series: The Southeast Division
2024-2025 Season Recap
The Southeast Division did not really perform well last season.
Only the Orlando Magic made it to the 50% win column (by winning 41 games, a flat 50%).. They actually made it to the playoffs, only to be knocked out in the first round by the 2nd seed Boston Celtics, which got knocked out in the following round.
The Atlanta Hawks won 40 games, but did not make it to the playoffs.
The Miami Heat won a mediocre 37 games. After the Jimmy Butler saga has resolved, they look like the worst Miami team in years.
The Charlotte Hornets and the Washington Wizards won an unremarkable 19 and 18 games, respectively.
After a mediocre season, they’d better have racked up nice draft picks and have done some nice offseason acquisitions, right?
2025-2026 Season
The Orlando Magic have locked in Paolo Banchero in a 5-year extension–a well deserved contract after an all-star appearance this year. Banchero continues to be the cornerstone of the Magic rebuild. The team lost Cole Anthony, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Gary Harris, but signed Desmond Bane and Tyus Jones. Bane is a great addition to the team–he would relieve some of the offensive load off of Banchero and Franz Wagner. The Magic has one of the best defenses in the league, and if they are able to improve on their three-point shooting, they could be a force in the Eastern conference.
The Hawks almost pressed the hard-restart button and did a major overhaul. They lost the following players: Clint Capela, Caris LeVert, Larry Nance Jr, Terrence Mann, Georges Niang, and David Roddy. However, they got Trae Young some help–Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Luke Kennard who are both snipers from downtown, and the unicorn Kristaps Porzingis. If this Trae Young – Kristaps Porzingis experiment works out, they could be in for a great postseason run.
The Heat find themselves in a transition period–after losing Butler last season, they lost Kevin Love, Duncan Robinson, and Kyle Anderson during the summer. They secured Simone Fontecchio, Davion Mitchell, and Norman Powell. The Heat offense desperately needs a shot in the arm–either in the form of a Jaime Jaquez Jr resurgence, or a record season from Bam Adebayo. Norman Powell bolsters their offense a bit, but it may not be enough to get them a 40-win season.
The Hornets have been busy over the postseason. They re-signed Tre Mann, and added a bunch of veterans–crafty guard Pat Connaughton, scorer Spencer Dinwiddie, big man Mason Plumlee, and former Cavs star Collin Sexton. LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, and Miles Bridges are getting some help, but they also lost some trusty players–MIcic, Nurkic, Josh Okogie, and Mark Williams. Their season hinges on one question–Can Ball and Miller stay healthy and show that they are the true core players of this team?
The Wizards definitely looked like a different team after the summer–they lost Saddiq Bey, Richaun Holmes, Anthony Gill, Marcus Smart, and “star” Jordan Poole. Over the offseason, they had a number of key acquisitions–CJ McCollum, Tre Johnson, and Cam Whitmore. The Wizards are very young–10 of their current players are still on their rookie deals. There is NBA champ Khris Middleton and vet McCollum, but unless one of the young guys steps up and makes a leap, they are not going anywhere anytime soon.
