Oct
29
by Chris Maynard, chris@hoops4thesoul.com
Disclaimer: This division is the pits. It shames me to say that the Miami Heat will take this division. But sadly, the Wizards aren’t too hot and the Magic is not quite ready to do so. As for the Atlanta Hawks and the Charlotte Bobcats, both teams can only dream about the playoffs.
1. Miami Heat: If it wasn’t for the competitive greatness of Dwyane Wade, the Miami Heat would be in big trouble. Even though Wade will most likely not be back until November as he recovers from shoulder surgery, the great guard will return and get Miami the fourth seed due to the crappy playoff seeding rules in the league. With that in mind, Pat Riley did nothing with this team during the offseason. He attempted to infuse the team with some youthful guards in Maurice Williams and Charlie Bell, but both players were resigned by the Milwaukee Bucks. Riley ended up with Smush Parker, a talented but inconsistent guard who could not get along with Phil Jackson in Los Angeles. Parker and Jason Williams (recovering from injuries) are nothing to get excited about.
To Riley’s credit, he got rid of the pig that is Antoine Walker just last week, acquiring Ricky Davis and center Marc Blount, who gives the Heat a third decent big man behind Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning. With the expectation that the aging O’Neal will eventually miss some time during the season, Blount can step in the starting lineup and be a decent fill-in. And while Davis is one of the biggest “me” guys in the league, he is awfully talented. If he buys in to what Miami is doing, Davis is better than anything the Heat had at the three spot last season, including Eddie Jones, Jason Kapono, Walker and James Posey (well Davis is not as good of a defender as Posey). Usually solid role player Udonis Haslem will flank the power forward spot once again for the Heat.
While the recent trade made the Heat slightly better and at least somewhat changed the team’s complexion (getting rid of Walker is an addition by subtraction), the Heat still has a very thin bench. With Shaq not the player he once was but still capable of being dominant, the Heat have faint hope of being a contender again. But don’t let Shaq’s presence fool you. The Heat’s time has passed with this team, despite the amazing player that Wade is. Even when he wasn’t healthy against the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the NBA playoffs last season, Wade almost willed the Heat to a couple of wins.
Synopsis: Miami was lucky to win the title in 2006. Dallas had Miami buried and let Game Three slip away. With some help of the officials in Game Five and the brilliance of Wade in Game Six, the Heat took the series. Pat Riley looked like a genius at the time after replacing Stan Van Gundy for his own ambitions. However, Riley maintained pat with this team for the most part, and the Heat is still very old. Even when Wade gets back, too much is put on his shoulders. Shaq is not the player he once was, and Haslem and Williams are too inconsistent. The Heat don’t know what Davis will show up, but the trade was needed as 2004 first round draft pick Dorell Wright has failed to develop. In simple terms, the East is better than it’s been before, and the Heat is not. Boston and Chicago would have little problems with Miami, which is going to lose in the first round to the Toronto Raptors.
2. Washington Wizards: Like the Heat, the Wizards are another team stuck in the mud. Washington obviously has a strong nucleus of Gilbert Arenas (who some pundits are casting as league MVP), Antawn Jamision and Caron Butler (still one of the more underrated players in the game), but this team has failed to get better the last three seasons. Brendan Haywood is unimpressive down low, and Etan Thomas is currently recovering from open-heart surgery, leaving Darius Songalia and Andray Blatche to fill the void in the paint. DeShawn Stevenson is a tough defender, Antonio Daniels is a solid bench player and Nick Young could blossom into a decent player. In simple terms, the Wizards can fill it up and have the talent to overtake the Heat and get the lucky four seed (once again due to the NBA’s stupid seeding rules). However, this team is going to have to pick it up defensively, which is asking a lot from this offensively-focused team.
Synopsis: If healthy, the Wizards can get the four seed and should be no worse than a seventh seed. Depending where the team falls, the Wizards could make it to the second round or bow out in the first round. The latter is way more likely as the Wizards bring little defense to the table and can get shut down by teams that lock it up on defense.
3. Orlando Magic: Stan Van Gundy should have been hired by the Magic before Billy Donovan. With that said, Van Gundy is one of the best coaches in the league. However, is he sexy enough in the long run to lead the Magic? For the meantime, Van Gundy will slowly build this Magic team back up, beginning with stud center Dwight Howard. With that said, it’s hard to like the pieces around Howard. Rashard Lewis was an expensive free-agent acquisition who wasn’t worth all of the money. Jameer Nelson is a talented guard who, when aggressive and penetrating, is fun to watch. Yet he can be inconsistent, turn the ball over and lose confidence. The Magic may start Lewis at the three and then put Pat Garrity at the four, hardly a guy who should be staring for an alleged playoff team. The shooting guard spot is also weak with Keith Bogans and J.J. Redick, who looked lost defensively last year. Hedo Turkoglu has always been an intriguing if not erratic player off the bench. The front line behind Howard is very thin, with Adonal Foyle and unproven James Augustine, and it’s hard to like the flashy but oftentimes very frustrating Carlos Arroyo.
Synopsis: Van Gundy once got a Heat team with Caron Butler, Lamar Odom and a rookie Wade to the second round of the playoffs. While a great coach, Van Gundy will be hard pressed to get Orlando back to the eighth seed this season, unless Howard truly comes into his own and Lewis lives up to the money that he was given. The parts around Howard are not quite there yet, but at least the coach is! Here’s hoping Van Gundy has a better fate in Orlando as compared to Miami, where Riley stabbed him in the back.
4. Charlotte Bobcats: Michael Jordan traded the amazing potential of Brandan Wright for swingman Jason Richardson in the offseason with the hope that the former Golden State Warrior would team up with all-around small forward Gerald Wallace and surprise some teams. The Bobcats have a new coach in former Jordan teammate Sam Vincent, who will need to get Charlotte to play as hard as the team did under Bernie Bickerstaff. Charlotte really needs Emeka Okafor to become more of a force on offense in his fourth season and point guard Raymond Felton to get much better in his third season (Felton is a far behind the two point guards immediately selected before him in the 2005 NBA Draft, Deron Williams and Chris Paul). Off the bench, Matt Carroll is one of the most efficient players in the game, a very solid player. Argentine Walter Hermann looked awful at the beginning of last season but allegedly developed at the end of the year.
With all this considered, the Bobcats have already lost disappointing recent draft picks Adam Morrison and Sean May to season-ending injuries. So while the Bobcats plan of Richardson and Wallace, or vice versa, as a dangerous combo duo remains intact, this team has seen its depth already be decimated by injuries. Charlotte will play hard but is not good enough to reach the playoffs.
Synopsis: Charlotte attempted to build like the Bulls, drafting college winners. Unfortunately, Okafor, Felton, May and Morrison have failed to live up to expectations like Chicago’s picks. Wallace does everything for this team, and if Richardson plays with passion, this duo could at least be exciting for fans. With that said, Charlotte may regret trading the rights to Wright for Richardson in time as J-Rich doesn’t figure to get any better.
5. Atlanta Hawks: Billy Knight had a very solid draft, grabbing Al Horford from Florida and Acie Law IV from Texas A&M. Horford will immediately contribute to a very young team that needs more all-around play from Josh Smith and development from Marvin Williams. It’s especially time for Williams to step up in his third season. Josh Childress is a decent backup but nothing special. His days in Atlanta may be numbered as the team will likely extend Smith before him. Like Redick, Sheldon Williams of Duke was a bust last year. Expect Horford to take a lot of his minutes. Horford has a great body for the league, can put the ball on the floor and hit the mid-range jumper. Law is a clutch point guard who will be competing against a slew of veterans in Speedy Claxton, Tyronn Lue and Anthony Johnson.
Synopsis: Knight’s draft picks of the past still cause rather than ease worries. The selections of Horford and Law are slam dunks. Now can Smith become more than a dunker and Williams become more of a presence down low rather than floating out to the perimeter? Head Coach Mike Woodson is likely wondering the same thing.
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Disclaimer: This division is the pits. It shames me to say that the Miami Heat will take this division. But sadly, the Wizards aren’t too hot and the Magic is not quite ready to do so. As for the Atlanta Hawks and the Charlotte Bobcats, both teams can only dream about the playoffs. 
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