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The race in the East has gotten stronger with Boston re-tooling and Atlanta and Orlando looking on the up, Washington still having a fearsome trio and Charlotte swinging some draft day trades, and if Dwayne Wade ever gets health the Heat are somewhat of a threat.
Southeast:
Atlanta - could this be the year the finally get close to re-emerging? They've had 7 years of high lottery picks and whilst I hated their PG selection of Acie Law, particularly when they could have tabbed Chris Paul or Deron Williams instead of Marvin Williams two years earlier. Anyhow their other rookie #3 pick and former Florida Gator Al Horford looks set to be a stud. If Josh Smith can produce consistently like he did down the stretch last year and Marvin Williams can provide support off the bench then this could be the year.
Orlando - have had a great off season even if overpaying for free agent forward Rashard Lewis - basically if you want somebody elses guy you have to overpay to get them. After the successful then bungled recruitment of back to back NCAA championship coach Billy Donovan the Magic made what may turn out to be a far better hire in Stan Van Gundy. Stan proved to be a great coach whilst coaching the in state Miami Heat in DWades rookie season. He arrives hear with 3rd year beast Dwight Howard a contender to lead the league in rebounds, field goal and points in the paint. Lewis adds a 3pt sniper that will spread the floor and allow Howard more room to operate. You figure that Lewis and Turkoglu could spend time at the PF spot in a mobile running team. Jameer Nelson is haggling over a contract extension and could be ready to blossom under the new coach. On the bench they have good pieces in Ariza, Arroyo, Dooling, Redick and Foyle. I expect Orlando to make the playoffs under a coach that seems to get career years out of players.
Washington - largely stood pat over the summer. They still have three of the most explosive scorers in the league in Arenas, Butler and Jamison. At centre Brendan Heywood will get more chance with Etan Thomas injured for the season, and this also opens it up for Songaila and Blatche. Stevenson and Daniels are solid veteran guards, and they add rookie guard Nick Young and forward Pecherov but it remains to be seen whether they will be any real help this year. If Arenas can recover from the knee injury completely then they will again be tough but they dont appear to have added the pieces to take them to the next level. Arenas has arrived at the upper echelon of NBA players (Kobe, Nash, Duncan, Wade, Lebron etc) and as Arenas goes so do the Wizards. I think they'll make the playoffs but could see them exiting first round, at best second round exit.
Charlotte - After trading for Jason Richardson on draft day, re-signing Gerald Wallace, Matt Carroll to long term deals, and allowing Brevin Knight to walk so that Ray Felton could run the team at PG it appeared things were heading in the right direction for the Bobcats. Then injury struck, first to the fat man Sean May, and then to second year forward Adam Morrison. As well as adding Richardson the Bobcats welcome a whole new coaching staff under rookie coach Sam Vincent (yes one of MJs buddies). Big men Emeka Okafor and Argentinian Walter Herrman figure to log heavy minutes. Right now Carroll appears to be the only sub whose game I like. Their bench just looks too weak - Brezec, McInnis, Derek Anderson its not a group that will put much fear into the hearts of opposing players and coaches.
Miami - So many question marks over the Heat right now. Dwayne Wade banged up and has not appeared in any pre season games. Jason Williams trying to rebound from knee problems, the recent trade for the talented head case Ricky Davis. after a winless pre-season. Will Riley finally trust Dorrell Wright enough to actually let him play through his mistakes at SF? Is Smush Parker good enough to make a difference at PG? How much does the Diesel - Shaq have left in the tank? Is Penny Hardaway still alive? When will Wade be back on the court? Basically I dont like the mix of players - and its hard to see where this group is heading long term. It looks built for one year only, and if it all goes wrong early the coach may blow it up. The trade for Davis helps but it really comes back to Wade who is an absolute superstar capable of putting a team on his back. The physical nature of the way Wade throws his body around appears to be taking its toll and hopefully this is not the beginning of the end for him. He is the kind of player that even people who dont really know much about the game can appreciate how incredible he is. Hopefully he can get long term injury free and we can watch one of the leagues brightest stars destroy defences once again.
Southeast:
Atlanta - could this be the year the finally get close to re-emerging? They've had 7 years of high lottery picks and whilst I hated their PG selection of Acie Law, particularly when they could have tabbed Chris Paul or Deron Williams instead of Marvin Williams two years earlier. Anyhow their other rookie #3 pick and former Florida Gator Al Horford looks set to be a stud. If Josh Smith can produce consistently like he did down the stretch last year and Marvin Williams can provide support off the bench then this could be the year.
Orlando - have had a great off season even if overpaying for free agent forward Rashard Lewis - basically if you want somebody elses guy you have to overpay to get them. After the successful then bungled recruitment of back to back NCAA championship coach Billy Donovan the Magic made what may turn out to be a far better hire in Stan Van Gundy. Stan proved to be a great coach whilst coaching the in state Miami Heat in DWades rookie season. He arrives hear with 3rd year beast Dwight Howard a contender to lead the league in rebounds, field goal and points in the paint. Lewis adds a 3pt sniper that will spread the floor and allow Howard more room to operate. You figure that Lewis and Turkoglu could spend time at the PF spot in a mobile running team. Jameer Nelson is haggling over a contract extension and could be ready to blossom under the new coach. On the bench they have good pieces in Ariza, Arroyo, Dooling, Redick and Foyle. I expect Orlando to make the playoffs under a coach that seems to get career years out of players.
Washington - largely stood pat over the summer. They still have three of the most explosive scorers in the league in Arenas, Butler and Jamison. At centre Brendan Heywood will get more chance with Etan Thomas injured for the season, and this also opens it up for Songaila and Blatche. Stevenson and Daniels are solid veteran guards, and they add rookie guard Nick Young and forward Pecherov but it remains to be seen whether they will be any real help this year. If Arenas can recover from the knee injury completely then they will again be tough but they dont appear to have added the pieces to take them to the next level. Arenas has arrived at the upper echelon of NBA players (Kobe, Nash, Duncan, Wade, Lebron etc) and as Arenas goes so do the Wizards. I think they'll make the playoffs but could see them exiting first round, at best second round exit.
Charlotte - After trading for Jason Richardson on draft day, re-signing Gerald Wallace, Matt Carroll to long term deals, and allowing Brevin Knight to walk so that Ray Felton could run the team at PG it appeared things were heading in the right direction for the Bobcats. Then injury struck, first to the fat man Sean May, and then to second year forward Adam Morrison. As well as adding Richardson the Bobcats welcome a whole new coaching staff under rookie coach Sam Vincent (yes one of MJs buddies). Big men Emeka Okafor and Argentinian Walter Herrman figure to log heavy minutes. Right now Carroll appears to be the only sub whose game I like. Their bench just looks too weak - Brezec, McInnis, Derek Anderson its not a group that will put much fear into the hearts of opposing players and coaches.
Miami - So many question marks over the Heat right now. Dwayne Wade banged up and has not appeared in any pre season games. Jason Williams trying to rebound from knee problems, the recent trade for the talented head case Ricky Davis. after a winless pre-season. Will Riley finally trust Dorrell Wright enough to actually let him play through his mistakes at SF? Is Smush Parker good enough to make a difference at PG? How much does the Diesel - Shaq have left in the tank? Is Penny Hardaway still alive? When will Wade be back on the court? Basically I dont like the mix of players - and its hard to see where this group is heading long term. It looks built for one year only, and if it all goes wrong early the coach may blow it up. The trade for Davis helps but it really comes back to Wade who is an absolute superstar capable of putting a team on his back. The physical nature of the way Wade throws his body around appears to be taking its toll and hopefully this is not the beginning of the end for him. He is the kind of player that even people who dont really know much about the game can appreciate how incredible he is. Hopefully he can get long term injury free and we can watch one of the leagues brightest stars destroy defences once again.
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