Posted by boxtaboy on September 6, 2008
D-Wade is back!
I am continuing my team by team recap of the NBA off-season. Today we have the Southeast division with teams that didn’t make drastic moves as seen in the Atlantic division.
Atlanta Hawks:
Added – Maurice Evans (Magic), Randolph Morris (Knicks), Flip Murray
Lost – Josh Childress (Greece)
Re-Signed – Josh Smith
Analysis – 2 Stars. There is not much to talk about with the Hawks. GM Billy Knight is finally gone. They lost Josh Childress to a team in Greece, in a move that opened up international play as an option for other NBA players to soon follow. The only good thing that happened in the off-season for the Hawks was matching the contract fantasy stud Josh Smith signed with Memphis allowing them to keep him. I’m excited to see how Al Horford, my pick last season for rookie of the year, developed his game. He’ll be a double double machine, and should show improvements in scoring.
Charlotte Bobcats:
Added – Shannon Brown
Re-Signed – Emeka Okafor
Drafted – D.J. Augustin, Alexis Ajinca
Analysis – 2 Stars. Larry Brown is the new head coach and I’m sure he’ll want to clear up his name after all the problems he had with the Knicks, so expect him to give his all as coach. The Bobcats have talent, so as long as Felton doesn’t turn out to have the same attitude as Marbury (which I highly doubt is possible), then Brown should have a positive influence. In a surprising move on draft day, they took Augustin instead of a big man possibly indicating that Felton is not a part of the future plans with the organization. Brown is notoriously famous for not giving rookies playing time, but still keep an eye out on the point guard situation. Adam Morrison should be returning this year. Remember him? Unless you want your teams FG% to drop, I don’t think he’s worth a spot on any fantasy roster.
Miami Heat:
Added – Yakhouba Diawara (Nuggets), Bobby Jones (Knicks), James Jones (Portland), Jamaal Magloire
Lost – Ricky Davis (to Clippers), Jason Williams (to Clippers)
Re-Signed – Dorell Wright
Drafted – Michael Beasley & Mario Chalmers
Analysis – 3 Stars. D-Wade looked amazing during the Olympics. He is definitely back to form, so don’t let him fall in your fantasy draft because of weak numbers from last year. I think this will be a rejuvenated Heat team, but it all depends on Wade’s intensity. They can’t really play worse than they did last year. Michael Beasley is probably the most NBA ready player from this year’s draft and although Derrick Rose may have been a better fit, Beasley should be able to produce earlier. Shawn Marion is in his contract year so expect good numbers from him. Besides those 3, the rest of the players are nothing special. Center/point guard positions are still severely lacking. Haslem might play at center, so Beasley can start at PF. That move would make them very small at center, which isn’t too bad of a thing playing in the east. Point duty should be split between Marcus Banks/Mario Chalmers and Chris Quinn (if resigned). Keep an eye on the point guard situation and Chalmers.
Orlando Magic:
Added – Mickael Pietrus (Warriors) & Anthony Johnson (Hawks)
Lost – Carlos Arroyo (to Maccabi Tel Aviv), Keyon Dooling (to Nets) & Maurice Evans (to Hawks)
Re-Signed – Adonal Foyle
Drafted – Courtney Lee
Analysis – 2 Stars. Pietrus should play real well at shooting guard, and Lee should be a good back up for him. I think Pietrus will put up solid numbers, and I have him as a sleeper pick this year. The only problem area is that Jameer Nelson is still running the point. I was never a fan of his, but he will get more minutes now that Arroyo and Dooling are out of the picture and Johnson being an oldie. With a starting 5 of Nelson, Pietrus, Turkoglu, Lewis, and Superman (Howard), the Magic will have another solid year.
Washington Wizards:
Added – Dee Brown (Jazz)
Lost – Roger Mason (Spurs)
Re-Signed – Gilbert Arenas & Antawn Jamison
Drafted – JaVale McGee
Analysis – 2 Stars. It was good that the wizards were able to bring back Arenas and Jamison, but they really needed to shake up their roster a little bit They have not had a season with Arenas/Butler/Jamison all playing without injury, so they are hoping that health alone was the reason they have not made it deep into the playoffs. If healthy, I think they can be a competitive team. Arenas should play at his pre-injury level, and hopefully Butler will be able to play 82 beastly games.
If you have any questions or comments, please post below and I’ll gladly tell you my opinion. Recaps for the other divisions will be up soon, so keep checking back.
– BoxtaBoy
This entry was posted on September 6, 2008 at 6:54 pm and is filed under Basketball, Fantasy Sports.
Tagged: Bobcats, Hawks, Heat, Magic, NBA, Off-season, Southeast Division, Wizards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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tapion said
good call on the chalmers bit. i know riley is hoping that he’ll be enough at pt. wizards are good at drafting atletic rookies with the pics they have (nick young) and i think mcgee will be a solid addition as well.
ameer said
Ok, as usual, I will counter your team recap, with one of my own, which most likely is better, and if not read with caution, might actually make you pregnant.
The Hawks lost a good sixth man in Childress, but did manage to keep Josh Smith at a good price, considering Philly had to pay an absurd amount for Iggy. They didn’t really add any big pieces, but if Horford manages to have the type of statistical explosion that some players have in their sophomore year, he should be able to really help the team out. I do predict they might be able to make it into the playoffs as a lower seed, barring injuries, and with a good season from Horford, and Josh Smith.
The Bobcats confuse me. Im not going to lie. I don’t believe they have the type of roster that Larry Brown can’t turn into a playoff contender. Felton might fight Larry Brown’s method of playing the “right way”, or he might embrace it, and improve his overall game. I don’t know if the addition of Morrison, and Sean May (who was injured last year) will help them that much, because I don’t really see either player being an impact player. Okafor will be close to a double double, but not 20-10.
The Heat should obviously be better than the abysmal season they had last year. Wade does look to be back to his normal explosive ways, and really showed it at the Olympics. Expect big numbers from Marion, who is in a contract year. Beasley (along with Mayo) is the early favorite for Rookie of the Year in my opinion, and should provide decent numbers. The pg situation is still iffy, and Chalmers won’t be able to run the point as a rookie, no matter how good he looked during summer league (no, i won’t mention how his dumbass got tossed out of the rookie transition program). Can Banks focus on point guard duties, and let the offense come to him, instead of being a gunner? He didn’t really cut it in PHX as a backup point guard, so I don’t know if he can handle starting duties in Miami. The team will be mediocre, but will either limp into the playoffs, or miss them entirely.
The Magic didn’t shake up their roster too much, but then again, they didn’t have to. Lewis Turkoglu and Howard will be a great offensive trio. Pietrus was a good pick up. Hes a versatile player, and should be able to contribute to the defending southeast division champions. With Howard only improving every year (lets hope he develops some offensive moves, besides dunk in your face), you know hes gonna be a beast. If Turkoglu can repeat his season from last year, and Lewis settles in nicely his second year, this team will easily repeat as South East champs. The only hole in this lineup is at PG, because like BoxtaBoy, Im not that fond of Nelson. Lets hope he can be steady enough to not hurt his team too much.
The Wizards didn’t change a thing. They hope that their trio of Butler Arenas and Jamison can stay healthy, and power them into the playoffs. This is the only team I believe that can challenge the Magic for the Southeast division. If all three stay healthy, they can easily make the playoffs, but they have been eliminated three straight years by the Cavs, and have not made any significant changes. If the big three manage to stay healthy, this team might make some noise finally.
There’s my two cents. For any pregnancies, I apologize, but you were warned about the potency of my post before hand.
boxtaboy said
Tapion, I personally think Riley is putting too much hope into Chalmers. He’s a rookie point guard, so it’ll take him some time to understand/develop the NBA game. Riley is supposedly really upset about what heppened at the rookie transition program with Chalmers, calling him an embarrassment. But he also mentioned that he most likely won’t suspend/punish him further than anything that the NBA does.
tapion said
hey sports brotha, i think ameer is trying to make a bid as one of the authors on the blog
sportsbrotha said
I think the team to beat in this division obviously is the Magic, but I am very sold on the Heat in this division as the only legitimate threat to the Magic. I think what we all forget is that a mere 2 years ago (2006) Dwayne Wade was the MVP of the finals and lead a pretty weak Heat team (in my opinion) to the championship. Yes he had Shaq, but we saw how effective he was. Now, Wade is healthy again, and he’s got a very athletic Marion to work with and the most NBA-ready rookie ready to contribute.
What we also need to remember is that the NBA has become a playmaker’s arena. It’s no longer about who can put up 30 points a night, but more who can get his teammates involved and get the most out of them in order to succeed. Check out the teams that won the championship the last 5 years. None of the players on those teams was in the top 5 in the league in scoring. Wade is a playmaker. If you look at the roster of the 2006 Heat, most of the guys were at the end of their careers, with some young talent mixed in. Wade, along with Riley got the most out of every player on the team, and he will do the same this year.
I’m saying Heat in the playoffs as #5 or #6 seed.
ameer said
with holes at pg and center, and an unproven rookie pf, i dont know if the heat can really be a force. There is only so much wade can do as a playmaker. And Riley isn’t there to inspire the team anymore.
Travis Outlaw said
Adam Morrison is going to prove all his doubters wrong this year.