Southeast Division:
Orlando Magic
Orlando had a nice run in the second half of the last season with an elite defense that will most likely continue to be this good this season as their main core of guys stayed in the team while they also added Aminu in the offseason, another good defensive player for the frontcourt. The potential problem for the Magic will be on offense. DJ Augustin is a serviceable PG but he isn't good enough to deserve to start in a NBA team. However, the Magic only have Carter-Williams and Fultz as his alternatives. I'm not sure how this is going to work, but Fultz's evolution or not might dictate the future of the franchise. Vucevic is Orlando's most skilled player on offense but he needs the right matchups in order to be effective as he was completely shutdown by M. Gasol in the playoffs. The good news is that there aren't many elite post defensive centers in the league at the moment.
Charlotte Hornets
There aren't a lot more teams that will be as boring to follow as this Charlotte team. They are stuck in a bad salary cap situation as Batum, MKG and Biyombo are paid big bucks and to make things worse, they also overpaid Rozier in this offseason. The Hornets will have as its goal to give minutes to their young players so they can develop: Monk, Bacon, Bridges and the rookie PJ Washington. Like last season, they will want to push up the pace and so we will be possibly dealing with one of the worst defensive teams in the league. They will be in the fight with Cleveland, Washington and the NY Knicks for the worst record in the East.
Miami Heat
The Heat have the more balanced team in the division, something that isn't hard to have given the state of this division. The highlight of their preseason was the development of their rookie Tyler Herro who might immediately be able to give a huge help to the team's perimeter shooting, one of their biggest problems in the last few seasons. There is a lot of versatility in the roster, with Winslow being the team's starting PG but being able to play at the PF position if necessary, while Butler will be the team's closer and main ball handler in the crunch time. With Whiteside leaving the team and with Adebayo being the team's new starting Center, Miami should be able to play full time with the kind of defense Spoelstra likes the most: trapping defense and being aggressive against the pick n roll, something they couldn't do with Whiteside on the court.
Washington Wizards
Poor Bradley Beal. The season is yet to start and there are already a lot of Wizards' players with physical issues: Isaiah Thomas , Brown, CJ Miles and Mahinmi. Washington was one of the worst defensive teams in the league last season and the same should happen this season with the frontcourt being loaded with inexperienced young players: Bryant, Hachimura and Bertans. Beal was one of the players with the most minutes per game in the league last season and still, the team had no chance to get to the playoffs. The same should happen this season unless Isaiah Thomas has a super comeback season, but still their defense is going to be so bad that they need an elite offense to make up that and that's not going to happen.
Atlanta Hawks
With Collins on the court, Atlanta was an interesting team last season with the Collins + Young combo having some spectacular moments. For this season, the team hopes that their young players will continue to develop and they've added two new rookies: Hunter and Reddish. Possibly, there will be too much youth on the court at the same time. They lost Dedmon in the offseason, a key loss for them, but they added Turner and Parker. I'm not sure if these moves were the right ones for this team. The Hawks will have good offensive moments this season, but I'm worried about their lack of defense especially with them being such a young team.
Future Play:
Miami Heat to win the Southeast Division @ +100 / 2.00 on Betonline OR -101 / 1.99 on Pinnacle