NBA Draft and Off-Season Outlook: South-East Division (Miami Heat, Hawks, Wizards, Magic, Bobcats))

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Welcome to my (slightly late) NBA Off-season coverage. With this series, I will be going over each team, what they did in the draft, and what their future outlook is, and what they may look to do going forward. We’ll be doing this division by division, starting with the South-East.

Atlanta Hawks

The Hawks only had pick #48 and with that, well, they got a guy they probably won’t be able to use in Keith Benson. Benson is 6’11 and 217 lbs, meaning he’ll have to bulk up considerably before he can even be an NBA backup. That’s a shame, as the Hawks real need is at center, but since they could not feasibly use Benson as a 5 yet, they should have taken the man who was pick #49, Josh Selby. Selby is a major scorer and penetrater with huge talent and a chip on his shoulder. With Jamal Crawford a free agent, he could have been an intriguing chip. As is, it seems like Crawford will be brought back, especially since Jordan Crawford, who could have replaced Jamal, was moved by the team last year.

The other major news around the Hawks camp has been the idea of trading Josh Smith. The idea next year looks like Jeff Teague at the 1, Hinrich at the 2, and Joe Johnson at the 3. That lineup in the backcourt adds a lot to the Hawks. Teague showed against the Bulls that he could be a very good defensive and offensive 1, but he lacks a bit in creating for others. Hinrich, however, is a combo guard who can help with the creating for others, and Johnson is essentially a point-forward who can do the same. That makes the Hawks tough to match up with, and they can offer a lot of different looks. This is where trading Josh comes in.

Josh is capable of playing either the 3 or the 4, but if he’s a 4, then Al Horford, the Hawks most efficient player, has to be a 5. Horford can play the 5, but it wears him down and he would be far more effective at the 4, meaning Josh should be a 3. Of course, Joe Johnson has a huge, onerous contract no one will take, and for the optimal backcourt use, he should be a 3 usually.

The Hawks are, therefore, trying to move Smith. This makes a great deal of sense in the sense that he will bring most back and is the most inconsistent player on the team. Unfortunately, the Hawks are limited in what they can trade Smith for – a true Center. Every other position, unless the upgrade is just so big that it’s undeniable, is already set. The list of true centers on the market is just barely existent, so the Hawks are going to seemingly have that roster confusion hanging over them with Josh for quite some time, though with Milwaukee’s Andrew Bogut rumored to be available, things could get interesting fast.

Charolette Bobcats

The Bobcats had one of the biggest draft nights of anyone, getting an extra first rounder for Stephen Jackson who was sent to Milwaukee. The Bobcats finally decided to tear down their decidedly mediocre team and with that went about rebuilding in an intelligent manner. Their seeming front-court of the future, #7 pick Bismack Biyombo pairs with returning power forward Tyrus Thomas to create a dominant defensive frontcourt who can contest shots from all angles. This should create fast breaks for a backcourt that currently has DJ Augustin, Kemba Walker and Gerald Henderson, all runners and slashers. More on the backcourt momentarily, though. First, let’s look at Biyombo more closely.

Although he may be closer to twenty than 18, Biyombo is already ready to be a dominant defensive presence in the NBA with a great motor, huge wingspan and awesome athleticism. He was already a force on defense in the second best league in the world (worse than the NBA, better than NCAA) and averaged more than 2 blocks per 15 minutes. He has no offensive game now beyond dunks, but that is true of many young men his age who utterly lack his motor and ability. The high end is Kevin Garnett, but that’s unlikely. Ben Wallace seems a more likely ceiling, which would make him an All-NBA player and even if he doesn’t reach those heights, his floor seems Theo Ratliff, a long-time above average starter.

Boris Diaw and Kwame Brown are likewise frontcourt holdovers who each offer some veteran presence and a bit of skill – Diaw is a good post-player and passer, while Kwame is a solid defender of bigs. Both have something to offer the young frontcourt of the future and Diaw’s expiring contract makes him valuable trade bait.

The Kemba Walker selection creates a bit of a duplicate in the backcourt, which could be a problem. DJ Augustin is the current starting point guard and a similar player to Kemba at a similar size. That leaves the team susceptible to big point guards, but, as the team won’t compete yet, that shouldn’t be a huge problem. What the pairing does is allow the Bobcats to see which player they prefer and move the other for an extra asset, likely around next year’s draft. Gerald Henderson is a player who can be upgraded, but is also young and could develop into more, which he’ll now have the chance to do.

That leaves the 3 the only major hole on the team, but one they addressed by trading for Corey Maggette. Maggette was terrible last year, but has one skill that should return – an uncanny ability to get to the line. If he can consistently shoot free throws at a high rate, the weakness of the offensive frontcourt should be somewhat offset. Once more, this isn’t going to be a good team, but it is a team with pieces that fit and can easily be built strongly for the future. Since they are so bad, yet young, and next year’s draft so amazing, they could easily find themselves a great pick away from competing.

Miami Heat

Coming off a hugely disappointing finals performance, the Heat have seemingly realized that castoff veterans are not the answer to put around the big 3 of Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. The role players who did the most for the Heat throughout the year and, especially, in the playoffs, were young Mario Chalmers and Joel Anthony. These players grew into their roles and improved throughout the year. Letting them develop along with new #28 pick Norris Cole gives the Heat a strong core. Cole can’t shoot like Chalmers, and they’re about even as defenders, but otherwise, Cole is already better in every area and thanks to the open looks he’ll get, he can likely learn to become the type of shooter necessary. As a backup 1, he more than fits the bill, especially since his length and athleticism allow him too backup the 3 as well.

The Heat’s other 2 reserve spots are manned by 4/5 Udonis Haslem, help defender and open jump shooter extraordinaire, and 3/4 Mike Miller, known as a shooter, but more jack-of-all trades. With an undrafted or overlooked player or two who is still young, the Heat should be in better position to win the title than they were this year.

Finally, it’s necessary to address Lebron, I suppose. James disappeared in a big way in the finals and it’s absolutely mystifying. James just stopped being aggressive and this is the first time in my NBA fandom (since the end of the reign of the Bad Boy Pistons when I was but a lad) that the guy I’d want for 82 games isn’t the same I’d want for a 7-game series. James is undoubtedly the former and undoubtedly not the latter. In order to improve this, James must relentlessly work on both his shot and post game. Everything else seems refined to the point of near-perfection, but earning spots on the floor that he prefers, shooting and posting up would allow him to get over the all time great hump.

Orlando Magic

Well, here’s a team that’s done unless the new CBA saves them. Dwight Howard is likely the best player in the NBA, but he doesn’t have a single extra player on his team who is above average, let alone good. Jameer Nelson is closest, but hasn’t been the same since coming back from injury. JJ Reddick is going to have to start with Jason Richardson unaffordable, and he’s a great shooter, but not much more than serviceable besides (running him off screens might be an absolute necessity for Orlando). Hedo Turkoglu is hit or miss, but, as much as everyone says he deteriorated, he was never anything approaching consistent to begin with. Brandon Bass is a nice little player, but undersized and doesn’t offer Dwight the front-line help he needs. Gilbert Arenas is an offensively overpaid shell of himself.

With no assets, no cap space and Dwight’s free agency coming up, the Magic really needed to get lucky in the draft. They didn’t. #32 pick Justin Harper is a stretch 4 for a team that has Ryan Anderson and #54 pick DeAndre Liggins is an effective defender off the pine.

Unless they find a sucker to take their bad contracts for good players or Dwight feels like being an extraordinarily nice guy, hope is lost. Dwight Howard will be leaving the Magic.

Washington Wizards

The Wizards had 2 building blocks going into the 2011 draft and came out with at least 4. Last year’s #1 Overall pick John Wall is going to be a superstar, as he’s not only the fastest and most athletic 1 in the league, he’s already an excellent passer who can run a fast break. Unfortunately, outside of selfish shooters, all Wall had to run with was the other building block Javale McGee. McGee is a force blocking shots and a freak athlete, but all he’s really good for offensively is some dunks. Defensively, he gets lost and misses assignments, but that was overrated a bit by how poor frontcourt-mate Andre Blatche was, as he constantly had to be ready to cover Blatche’s mistakes.

After this draft, that should no longer be an issue. #6 pick Jan Vesley is already a solid defender at 6’11, if not strong enough for NBA 4s yet, he’s at least a freak athlete who can contribute with length, speed and leaping ability. That also means he can cover some 3s and run with Wall, as well. All of these talents allow Blatche to become instant offense off the bench where, ideally, bench 4s and 5s won’t be able to exploit his defensive weakness as much or hold up to his good offensive game. That’s not all though. Added to Vesley is #18 pick Chris Singleton, the steal of the draft. Singleton is quick enough and shows flashes of offense, but his real use is defensively. Although a 3, he can potentially cover the 1-4, covering up for much of Vesley’s weakness in strength. Add in that he, too, can run with Wall, and you have quite the excellent pairing. Were that all, this would already be an A+ draft, but the Wizards also got Shelvin Mack, a combo guard out of Butler and a winner. He allows the team to trade or let go one of Nick Young or Jordan Crawford, both of whom are redundant volume shooters, while also being able to backup Wall.

The Wizards do indeed suddenly have a very bright future, but Coach Flip Saunders might not be the one to lead them there. Saunders is a very good coach of a veteran team, but isn’t excellent at handling young players. Moreover, he’s a poor zone coach and thanks to the length and speed of Vesley, Singleton, Wall and McGee, this is a team that could be deadly in a zone, and, as the finals showed us, a properly utilized zone can all but eliminate deadly opposing scorers. Still, coach issues or not, after this stellar draft, the future in Washington is quite bright. Indeed, within 2 years, they can very likely be better than anyone in the division save the Heat.

Glazer is a former senior editor at Pulse Wrestling and editor and reviewer at The Comics Nexus.