South East – Short and Long Term Prospects
6 min readAtlanta Hawks
Original Roster
Current Roster
PG | 1 | James Bouknight | 1 | Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk | 1 | Jaylin Williams |
SG | 1 | Grayson Allen | 1 | Josh Okogie | 1 | Wendell Moore Jr. |
SF | 2 | Mikal Bridges | 1 | Cameron Johnson | 4 | Davis Bertans |
PF | 1 | Dorian Finney-Smith | 1 | Troy Brown Jr | 1 | Vernon Carey Jr |
C | 1 | Trey Lyles | 1 | Sam Hauser | 3 | Dwight Powell |
1 | Lindy Waters III | 1 | Kenneth Lofton Jr |
Draft Picks: None
Future Firsts: Hawks 23, Nuggets 23, Knicks 23, Portland 23 and Hawks 25
Well where do I start……. At one point the starting 5 was Westbrook, Klay, Bridges, AD and Holmes with Sexton coming off the bench as a 6th man. The Hawks have now ended up with a poor roster with a few late first rounders for 23, with the exception of their own pick. The Hawks have taken a massive gamble on getting the top pick in the 23 draft. I think of all the picks they hold only one of them gives them a chance of that.
I think its going to take them about 5 years to get close to the roster which they have traded away, their own picks in 23 and 25 are going to be vital for the rebuild.
Short Term F – This team is miles away from competing, I think that winning anything over 10 games will be abit of a shock
Long Term – D- – There hopes are pinned on getting Wembanyama, but there are never any guarantees you will get the first pick or if Wembanyama is going to reach the levels people have predicted. Even if he is a superstar, he will need better pieces around him.
Charlotte Hornets
Original Roster
Current Roster
PG | 6 | De’Aaron Fox | 4 | Terry Rozier | ||
SG | 1 | Tyler Herro | 4 | Eric Gordon | ||
SF | 7 | Devin Booker | 1 | Jeff Green | 1 | Carmelo Anthony |
PF | 1 | Andre Drummond | 1 | Dewayne Dedmon | 2 | Rudy Gay |
C | 8 | Rudy Gobert | 2 | JaVale McGee |
Draft Picks: Jaden Hardy (19) and Cole Swider (51)
Future Picks: Hornets 24
The Hornets have been another busy team in the off season. The big talking point was trading Embiid away. I think a decent haul was got for Embiid but everything which was included in that trade has already been traded away since. I would have kept Allen over Gobert and think the price paid for Herro was steep. However the Hornets are set up nicely to make a push for the play offs this season.
Short Term B – The starting 5 is good, very good in fact. I just worry that an injury or two could really de rail the team when you look at the forward position depth.
Long Term B- – 4 of the starting 5 will still be making an impact in the NBA, with the potential of all of them being an all star at some point. However after that the team is old and with only 1st first over the next 3 years, I do wonder how the team is going to take a step forward, without trading away one of those starters.
Miami Heat
Original Roster
2 | Luka Doncic | 1 | Payton Pritchard | 3 | Patrick Beverley |
4 | Bogdan Bogdanovic | 1 | Anfernee Simons | 1 | Jaden Springer |
2 | Jayson Tatum | 1 | Devin Vassell | 1 | Jalen Johnson |
1 | Nic Claxton | 3 | Larry Nance Jr. | 1 | Darius Bazley |
4 | Myles Turner | 3 | Jusuf Nurkic | 1 | Naz Reid |
Current Roster
3 | Luka Doncic | 1 | Payton Pritchard | 1 | Jarabi Walker |
4 | Bogdan Bogdanovic | 1 | Anfernee Simons | 1 | Jaden Springer |
6 | Jayson Tatum | 1 | Devin Vassell | 1 | Jalen Johnson |
1 | Nic Claxton | 3 | Larry Nance Jr. | 1 | Darius Bazley |
4 | Myles Turner | 3 | Jusuf Nurkic | 1 | Naz Reid |
Draft Picks: John Butler (59)
Future Picks: Heat 23,24,25
The Heat are likely to be between 2-4 in the East. A position they have been the last couple of seasons. Luka and Tatum are one of the best duos in the league and likely to be around for another decade. The Heat have other nice pieces in Turner, Simon and Nurkic. Showing the depth which the roster has. There is also a sprinkle of young talen with Claxton, Reid and Bazley.
I love the Heat roster, the majority of the back up players are young and likely to get better and that applies to most of the starting 5 as well.
The Heat will again be a team going deep into the playoffs, but are they missing that third elite player to win the Championship?
Short Term – A – One of the teams to beat in the East and have plenty of depth and talent.
Long Term A – The Heat could easily keep the same roster over the next 3-4 years and still be a contender.
Orlando Magic
Original Roster
PG | 2 | Coby White | 2 | Jalen Suggs | 1 | Tre Jones |
SG | 2 | Markelle Fultz | 1 | Grayson Allen | 1 | Michael Carter Williams |
SF | 3 | Terrence Ross | 1 | Jeff Green | 1 | RJ Hampton |
PF | 4 | Aaron Gordon | 1 | Franz Wagner | 2 | James Wiseman |
C | 3 | DeAndre Jordan | 2 | Mo Bamba | 1 | Drew Eubanks |
Current Roster
PG | 4 | Markelle Fultz | 2 | Alex Caruso | 4 | Eric Bledsoe | ||
SG | 3 | Marcus Smart | 4 | Evan Fournier | 2 | Jalen Suggs | ||
SF | 2 | Franz Wagner | 1 | Chuma Okeke | 1 | Moritz Wagner | 1 | DeAndre Bembry |
PF | 4 | Aaron Gordon | 2 | Paolo Banchero | 2 | Mason Plumlee | ||
C | 1 | DeAndre Jordan | 2 | Daniel Theis | 2 | Juancho Hernangómez |
Draft Picks: Christian Braun (34) and Caleb Houston (35)
Future firsts: Spurs 24
Geraint has been busy this off season, but im a little torn regarding what direction the team is going in. Young talent like Tre Jones, James Wiseman, Mo Bamba and Coby White(to a lesser extent) have all left and in comes Paolo Banchero, with some defensive minded guards in Smart and Caruso.
In the short term I think the roster has improved from last season and there is a lot of depth on the team, I think some of the depth could be moved for maybe an improvement in the starting 5.
In the long term I think Paolo is going to very good, Fultz if (big if) can also stay on the floor has a high celling, Wagner is a scorer and Suggs is going to be a good player as well.
I see the Magic as a borderline play off team, with the potential to slightly improve over the next couple of years.
Short term: C+ – Improvements have been made to the roster but it doesn’t move the needle to much.
Long term: B – Getting Banchero was always going to be Geraints aim this off season and he got this man, but a lot of talent was given up to get him and others. Since I wrote this article there was another trade which involved Bol Bol for Gordon, which looks like a very smart move. I have gone with a B but it would well turn out to be an A.
Washington Wizards
Original Roster
PG | 1 | Derrick White | 2 | Ja Morant | 1 | Tyrese Maxey |
SG | 2 | Donovan Mitchell | 1 | Duncan Robinson | 1 | John Konchar |
SF | 6 | Jaylen Brown | 1 | Josh Hart | 1 | Elijah Hughes |
PF | 1 | Frank Kaminsky | 1 | Cameron Thomas | 1 | Jordan Nwora |
C | 2 | Wendell Carter Jr. | 1 | DaQuan Jeffries | 1 | Usman Garuba |
1 | Skylar Mays | 1 | Arnoldas Kubolka |
Current Roster
PG | 2 | Ja Morant | 4 | Derrick White | 1 | Jordan Nwora |
SG | 6 | Donovan Mitchell | 4 | Duncan Robinson | 1 | John Konchar |
SF | 6 | Jaylen Brown | 3 | Josh Hart | 1 | Blake Wesley |
PF | 2 | Wendell Carter Jr. | 1 | Frank Kaminsky | 1 | Cameron Thomas |
C | 1 | Robert Williams | 1 | Usman Garuba | 1 | Dalen Terry |
1 | Justin Lewis | 1 | Isaiah Mobley |
Draft Picks: Dalen Terry (15), Blake Wesley (16), Isiah Mobley (40) and Ishmael Kamagate (41)
Future Firsts: Own firsts in 23,24 and 25
Not many moves by the Wizards, but one of the best trades could be adding Robert Williams to the roster. This makes the Wizards starting 5 one of the best in the league. Plus they are all young and likely to get better.
The one think the roster does lack is real depth, if a couple of starters get injured it could really affect the Wizards season. It might have been an idea to try and add a quality back up big, especially given that Williams is injured at the current time.
Short Term – B – The Wizards are good and could be a team which causes a few upsets this season. As mentioned the bench maybe lacks depth in certain areas and needs to be addressed. If your going to compete into the Play-offs you need a great starting 5 and 3 good bench players, I don’t see that at the present time.
Long Term A – Mitchell is the oldest player in the starting 5 and had only just turned 26, so the Wizards could really be building some nice long term. A couple of smart trades or lottery selections and they will be thinking a run deep into the playoffs is possible every season.