Long considered one of the weakest divisions in the NBA, the Southeast Division saw a bit of a resurgence in 2024 due to the rise of the Orlando Magic. Here’s a quick look at each Southeast team’s offseason moves and their outlook for the 2025 NBA season.
Orlando Magic
Additions: Kentavious-Caldwell Pope, Tristan da Silva (18th pick in 2024 Draft), Cory Joseph
Subtractions: Markelle Fultz, Joe Ingles, Chuma Okeke
Other: Extended Franz Wagner for 5 years $224M, Re-signed Mo Wagner to a 2 year $22M deal, Re-signed Goga Bitadze to a 3 year $25M deal, Re-signed Gary Harris to a 2 year $15M deal
Outlook: The Magic were one of the best stories in the NBA in 2024, leaping from 34 wins all the way up to 47 wins and a spot in the playoffs on the back of the second-best defense in the NBA. The Magic are mostly “running it back”, inking forward Franz Wagner to a max extension and bringing back veterans Mo Wagner, Goga Bitadze, and Gary Harris on easily movable deals. Their one major addition is championship role player Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who will boost the Magic’s already ferocious perimeter defense while injecting some much-needed shooting. The Magic are primed to keep rising up the Eastern Conference, but probably need ascending star Paolo Banchero (or Franz) to make the leap to true superstar-level player to become a championship-caliber team. Still, their defense will make them a tough out each and every game, and the Magic have a ton of depth to withstand injuries. The future is bright in Orlando.
Prediction: 49-33 (Predicted 41-41 last year, actually 47-35)
Miami Heat
Additions: Kel’el Ware (15th pick in 2024 Draft), Alec Burks, Josh Christopher (two-way), Keshad Johnson (two-way)
Subtractions: Caleb Martin, Patty Mills, Delon Wright, Orlando Robinson
Other: Re-signed Haywood Highsmith, Re-signed Kevin Love, Re-signed Thomas Bryant
Outlook: The Heat, somewhat surprisingly, had a quiet summer after a very disappointing 2024 season. The Heat added the highly talented Kel’el Ware in the draft, a nice pick that should help solidify the backup center spot behind Bam Adebayo as well as unlock two-big man units alongside Bam. But the Heat lost a starter in Caleb Martin and didn’t really replace him with any veteran of equivalent talent. With Erik Spoelstra as head coach and Adebayo anchoring the defense the Heat will almost certainly be competent. Whether they are more than that depends on whether Jimmy Butler can have a bounceback year, and if young guys such as Ware, Jaime Jaquez, and Nikola Jovic can take steps forward. It’s hard to see the Heat fall out of the play-in, but they also simply don’t have as much talent as the teams above them in the East.
Prediction: 44-38 (Predicted 46-36 last year, actually 46-36!)
Atlanta Hawks
Additions: Zaccharie Risacher (1st pick in 2024 Draft), Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr., David Roddy, Cody Zeller, Nikola Djurisic, Dom Barlow (two-way), Keaton Wallace (two-way)
Subtractions: Dejounte Murray, Saddiq Bey, Bruno Fernando, AJ Griffin, Wes Matthews, Trent Forrest
Other: Re-signed Vit Krejci
Outlook: The Hawks had the great fortune to jump in the lottery and land the number one pick in the 2024 Draft. Unfortunately for them, there was no clear star prospect in this draft, and their selection of Zaccharie Risacher was uninspiring. Risacher is a nice prospect but he is unlikely to turn around the fortune of the Trae Young era as a guy whose probable upside is “strong role player”. The Hawks did mercifully abort the Dejounte Murray-Trae pairing, and got a solid return for Murray, but they have no clear second or even third options on offense after Trae. It’s a time of transition in Atlanta, and if Trae disappoints again, they might move on from him as well. There is enough talent around Trae – Jalen Johnson, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Onyeka Okongwu, Nance, and Clint Capela – for the Hawks to be a competitive team, but unless one or two of their young guys pop its hard to see the Hawks being above the play-in.
Prediction: 37-45 (Predicted 46-36 last year, actually 36-46)
Charlotte Hornets
Additions: Josh Green, Tidjane Salaun (6th pick in 2024 Draft), Taj Gibson, Moussa Diabate
Subtractions: James Bouknight, Ish Smith, Davis Bertans, Bryce McGowens, Leaky Black
Other: Re-signed Miles Bridges to a 3 year $75M deal, Re-signed Seth Curry, Hired Charles Lee as head coach to replace Steve Clifford
Outlook: The Hornets didn’t make a ton of moves this summer, with the bulk of their mini-teardown happening at the 2024 trade deadline, when they moved on from long-time mainstays Terry Rozier, PJ Washington, and Gordon Hayward. Brandon Miller had a very strong rookie season, cementing himself as a core piece of the Hornets’ future. The rest of the building blocks are murkier. LaMelo Ball is undoubtedly one of the most talented young players in the NBA – yet has played just 58 games in the past two seasons and has had some off-the-court controversies. Third-year big man Mark Williams has shown a lot of promise, but he too has suffered frequent injuries, playing in just 62 games in his first two NBA seasons. I do like the pick-ups of Josh Green and Tre Mann (at the deadline) as second-draft guys, but the Hornets are still fairly bereft of talent. If LaMelo can stay healthy and Williams takes a step forward the Hornets might sniff the play-in race, but this feels like another lottery season to me.
Prediction: 29-53 (Predicted 27-55 last year, actually 21-61)
Washington Wizards
Additions: Alex Sarr (2nd pick in 2024 Draft), Jonas Valanciunas, Saddiq Bey, Malcolm Brogdon, Bub Carrington (14th pick in 2024 Draft), Kyshawn George (24th pick in 2024 Draft)
Subtractions: Tyus Jones, Deni Avdija, Landry Shamet, Eugene Omoruyi, Hamidou Diallo
Other: Re-signed Richaun Holmes, Re-signed Anthony Gill
Outlook: The Wizards are entering year two of their rebuild and have done decently well for themselves in acquiring young talent. While Sarr looked bad in Summer League, the big man is a true high-upside swing that teams early in long rebuilds should be taking, even if he’s probably going to take a while to develop. Carrington looked phenomenal in Summer League, and while Bub probably won’t start right away, he will get lots of minutes to develop alongside Sarr and second-year wing Bilal Coulibaly. What the Wizards will not be is good. They were terrible last year and lost two of their three best players in Jones and Avdija. The Wizards did add a couple of sturdy veterans in Valanciunas and Brogdon, and still have a solid forward with Kyle Kuzma, but in the modern NBA that is not nearly enough talent to be competitive. Expect the Wizards to be near the bottom of the league as they pursue the “Capture the Flagg” sweepstakes for the 2025 Draft.
Prediction: 20-62 (Predicted 29-53 last year, actually 15-67)
