2024-2025 NBA preview part 3

The Southeast division is made up of the final 5 teams in the Eastern Conference. The Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, and the Washington Wizards. This division will feature two teams vying for a playoff berth this season, while the other three will most likely battle it out to see who can get the highest draft pick next year. 

Orlando Magic 

PG Jalen Suggs | Anthony Black | Cory Joseph 

SG Kentavious Caldwell-Pope | Cole Anthony | Caleb Houstan 

SF Franz Wagner | Gary Harris | Jett Howard 

PF Paolo Banchero | Jonathan Isaac | Tristan Da Silva 

C Wendell Carter Jr. | Moritz Wagner | Goga Bitadze 

The Magic are a frisky and fun team in the Eastern Conference next year. They earned the 5th seed in the playoffs that was in part due to their incredible defense last year. Signing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope addressed the biggest weakness the Magic had last year was their three point shooting. Caldwell-Pope signed a 3 year 66 million dollar deal with Orlando this off-season should be able to provide the Magic with shooting that won’t hurt their defense. I also expected a huge jump to be taken from Paolo Banchero this season as well. The third year player from Duke had a monster postseason putting up 30+ points in multiple games against the Cavaliers last year. I think he’ll challenge for a spot on the All-NBA team this upcoming year after making an All-Star team last year. The ceiling for the Magic is high. Obviously carrying over the defensive identity is crucial. However, if they’re able to get a jump from Banchero and Caldwell-Pope is able to provide the outside threat they needed I think Magic are a serious candidate to host a first round matchup in the playoffs this year. 

Miami Heat 

PG Terry Rozier | Josh Richardson | Alec Burks 

SG Tyler Herro | Duncan Robinson | Nassir Little 

SF Jimmy Butler | Haywood Highsmith | Pelle Larsson 

PF Nikola Jovic | Jaime Jaquez | Kel’el Ware 

C Bam Adebayo | Kevin Love | Thomas Bryant 

The Miami Heat are in a unique position. While they return a majority of their team it feels like they’re behind the other teams in the Eastern Conference. However, if you want to bet against the Heat, be my guest. They have made the NBA Finals in 2 of the last 5 years and the Eastern Conference finals in 3 of the 5 years, one of those years being when they were the 8th seed. A healthy Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, and Terry Rozier need to happen this year for Miami. Last year all three were out of the lineup frequently after Rozier was acquired at the trade deadline. I also feel like Herro needs to come off the bench and run the second unit as well. While Herro is a good shooter and creator, he’s a little inefficient to be next to Adebayo, Butler and Rozier. I think having Herro run the offense with the second unit will allow him to get back to his 6th man of the year form from a couple seasons ago. Jaime Jaquez and Nikola Jokic are also coming off good developmental seasons this past year, with Jaquez making first team All-Rookie this past year. The development of Jaquez and Jokic will be crucial to having a competitive team this year. I never want to bet against Erik Spoelstra and the Miami Heat , but everything from the past tells me they’ll be in the play-in again if they’re unable to stay healthy. However, if they get into the play-in or earn a top 6 seed all bets are off for how far they could go. 

Atlanta Hawks 

PG Trae Young | Dyson Daniels | Kobe Bufkin | Keaton Wallace 

SG Bogdan Bogdanovic | Garrison Matthews | Vit Krejci | Seth Lundy 

SF Zaccharie Risacher | De’Andre Hunter | David Roddy | 

PF Jalen Johnson | Larry Nance Jr. | Mouhamed Gueye 

C Clint Capela | Onyeka Okongwu | Cody Zeller 

The Atlanta Hawks traded away Dejounte Murray for draft capital and effectively ended the Trae Young Dejounte Murray pairing that lasted all of two years. The Hawks still have Trae Young, but now he is around a young group. Jalen Johnson took a massive step forward last year. He played extremely well down the stretch of the season and showed a ton of promise in developing into a high-quality NBA player. Adding in the number 1 overall draft pick from this past year in Zaccharie Risacher should also give the franchise a boost. The 6’ 10 Frenchman played well in summer league and showed flashes of being able to put the ball on the floor. He’ll be a good plug and play right away for the Hawks. They didn’t do a hard reset like many thought they would, but keeping Young and putting a bunch of young guys around him isn’t the worst thing in the world. They still have Okongwu, and Bogdanovic. They also added Larry Nance and Dyson Daniels in the Dejounte Murray trade with the Pelicans. Another important piece is the health of DeAndre Hunter. He’s been able to show flashes of being a good player for the Hawks, but he has struggled to stay healthy in his NBA career. For him it is an important year if he wants to show his value to the front office. Barring any injuries I don’t see the Hawks competing for anything other than the Play-in. They got a number pick and chose the right guy in Risacher. I think they need a year to figure out what type of roster they have. 

Charlotte Hornets 

PG LaMelo Ball | Vasilije Micic | Tre Mann 

SG Brandon Miller | Seth Curry | KJ Simpson 

SF Miles Bridges | Josh Green | Nick Smith 

PF Grant Williams | Cody Martin | Tidjane Salaun 

C Mark Williams | Nick Richards | Taj Gibson 

The Charlotte Hornets could be a fun team to watch. I don’t think they’ll win a lot of games, but LaMelo Ball running up and down the court throwing lobs to Miles Bridges and Mark Williams could be very entertaining. The main part is will Brandon Miller take another jump. The 2nd overall pick in the 2023 draft had a phenomenal second half of the season this past year. He showed improvement in his shooting and defense as well. Look for him to improve upon an already great start to his career. The most important player for the Hornets though is LaMelo Ball. He absolutely has to stay healthy for the Hornets to have any type of success. He’s a wizard with the ball in his hands and can make any pass. He’s gotten a little shot happy the last couple of years, but I think putting shooting and a lob threat around him will improve the offense. Overall, the Hornets are one of the younger teams in the league. A good portion of their rotation has been in the league no more than 4 years. Add in new head coach Charles Lee and I think the Hornets surprise more people this year. I think LaMelo takes a step in the direction and shows he can be a player the Hornets can win with. I don’t think they make the playoffs, but someone has to make the play-in so why can’t the Hornets?

Washington Wizards 

PG Jordan Poole | Carlton Carrington | Jared Butler 

SG Corey Kispert | Malcolm Brogdan | Johnny Davis 

SF Kyle Kuzma | Kyshawn George | Anthony Gill 

PF Alex Sarr | Bilal Coulibaly | Patrick Baldwin 

C Jonas Valanciunas | Richaun Holmes | Marvin Bagley 

The final team in the division is the Washington Wizards. They won’t be good this year, but they aren’t in a hurry to be good. They hit on their draft pick last year in Bilal Coulibaly. He’s an explosive athlete, who finished well around the basket, and proved his jump shot is better than what many expected it to be. They traded away Malcolm Brogdan and Deni Avdija for a draft pick, which they selected Bub Carrington with. I think they have a lot of pieces that could work together, but some need to get their confidence back, mainly Jordan Poole. Poole really struggled after being traded to Washington last year. However, once moved to the bench he started to find his rhythm again. I think he still needs to grow in his approach to the game, which the wizards don’t have a lot of players to help him in this regard, but as the season went on last year he got better. Kuzma is still on the roster and someone who is a good solid player. The main player everyone wants to focus on though is Alex Sarr. Sarr really struggled shooting from the floor in summer league, but take that with a grain of salt. While summer league matters, it’s just summer league. Sarr did show a ton of defensive ability and versatility while playing though. It is very obvious he will be a potent defender around the basket and affects a lot of shots. His disruption on defense could be something the Wizards can rely on throughout the year. Overall, the Wizards will not make the playoffs this upcoming nor should they want to. They’ll have an opportunity to win the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes, however ending up in the top 5 will guarantee them a marquee prospect to add next to Sarr and Coulibaly.