The Miami Heat are the only team in the Northeast Division who are considered to be contenders, which may be true, but I'd watch out for those Hawks. They staged one of biggest coups of the offseason in grabbing Dejounte Murray out of nowhere, like no one saw that coming. And there is perhaps no single transaction that occurred this summer that will prove as significant.
But since this is the Power Stinkings, I'm not going to start off with the likes of the Heat or Hawks. Instead, let's not forget that there's also teams out there such as:
1. CHARLOTTE HORNETS
The NBA season, at a grueling 82 games, is largely a test of endurance where, along the line, teams that are weak one way or another eventually get exposed. So at the beginning of last season, the Hornets were one of the feel-good stories of the NBA. Like you look at LaMelo Ball and just want him to win. But by the time all was said and done, it's like they just vanished from competititveness.
Now Miles Bridges, who is arguably their best player, like who knows when or if he'll suit up again. Then for whatever reason, the Hornets aren't making any effort to re-sign Montrezl Harris nor chase any quality free agents. So now, it looks like they're going to run it back with Ball + Oubre + Rozier Hayward (!) + Plumlee, which may not be the worst starting lineup in the NBA but has to be pretty darn close.
2. ORLANDO MAGIC
Paolo Banchero may look "NBA ready" or however they call it, but I live by a pretty unwavering philosophy of never putting too much hope in a rookie during his first year, because it's very rare that a rookie has any type of major impact to begin with. And even then, they need to drafted onto a roster that's already moderately good.
And maybe you can say the Magic are in that position. For instance Jonathan Isaac, who awhile back was being touted as their franchise player or whatever, I guess is supposed to be playing soon. And I'm still a Markelle Fultz fan, I suppose. I also kinda like Mo Bamba, and this dude Franz Wagner is supposed to be hot or whatever. Cole Anthony is also supposed to be some type of revelation, but honestly I can't remember the last time I saw the Magic play like a full game. This is a team that could really benefit from the presence of a bonafide superstar, which maybe Banchero will be after a season or two.
3. WASHINGTON WIZARDS
Bradley Beal is my type of NBA player. When you're getting paid gazillions of dollars to play basketball, as taxing as the NBA may be, you don't sit around crying about rings and legacy and all that bullshit. That is your legacy - that you're actually getting paid tens of millions of dollars to play fukin basketball. Just ask Antoine Walker. You know what I mean? Like get your priorities straight already.
That said, you have to admire this guy's level of commitment, though perhaps what he's actually committed to is money, i.e. the Wizards being able to pay him more than any other team, because it's like these guys never really improve. Well actually at this time last year, I thought that the Wiz, along with the Bulls, had the best offseason of 2021. But what seems to have happened to Washington, even though they finally put together a good roster post-Wall, was that they lacked unity or something and got exposed as the season wore on.
And their current roster is also, in reality, moderately impressive. Barton and Morris, I would imagine, should fit nicely next to Beal. Also a frontline of Kuzma and Porzingis (esp if he's healthy) is nothing to sneeze at. But speaking of legacy, let's not forget that this is the Washington Wizards, so no one should expect them to overachieve.
2. ATLANTA HAWKS
I'm really feeling the Hawks right now for a couple of reasons. One is that they didn't rush out and trade John Collins when he got into it with Trae Young. This is professional athletics, so you aren't supposed to overreact everytime coworkers aren't getting along with each other, even if one of them is a franchise player.
Secondly, they went out and got Dejounte Murray, which was like some guru shit. Their roster actually wasn't that bad last season, and his presence may end up solving most of their shortcomings. Like no one is really talking the Hawks, but they have, when you also take age into consideration, perhaps the most well-rounded starting 5 in the NBA. And they also now have two Holiday brothers coming off the bench. Their one weakness though may be frontline depth, esp since both Capela and Collins are known to have injury issues.
1. MIAMI HEAT
I'm tired of dickridin the Heat already. These teams, like the Suns who do exceptionally well during the season but falter in the playoffs, it always hurts when I predict them to win big, but then they fall short. Also, PJ Tucker leaving is supposed to have some type of adverse affect on them or whatever. I personally think Tucker tends to be overrated. But it ain't like they actually got anybody for him in return.
The Heat are one of the best-coached teams in the NBA for like ages now, but maybe they need to try something new, like maybe starting Tyler Herro alongside Duncan Robinson. I mean, why not? They have one of the deeper rosters in the league but obviously need to devise a new strategy to take things to the next level. And I'm not really sure how much Kyle Lowry has left in the tank, which makes me wonder why perhaps they didn't go after an additional starting level PG this offseason.
CONCLUSION
The Heat lost a couple of role players this offseason, didn't get anybody back to match their talent level, but are still the team to beat in the Northeast. That says alot about how wise this organization actually is. But speaking of injury issues, that begs the question of how much they can truly rely not only on Lowry but also Butler and Adebayo this coming season.
Meanwhile, the Hawks may not be models of health themselves, but they are going to be a fun watch, even more than they've already been the past couple of years. And the acquisition of Murray is such that the sky's really the limit for them at the moment, and they may have the best backcourt in the NBA (taking nothing away from the Splash Bros).
I feel sorry for the Hornets in more ways than one. Who knows if they would have made the effort to retain Bridges anyway, but damn, is he catching a bad one.
And as for the Magic and Wizards, I mean the East ain't as formidable as it may seem at times. And maybe, just maybe they'll make the playoffs.
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