NBA Offseason: Part 3

The Boston Celtics will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on the opening day of the 2017 – 2018 season in approximately 10 days. With the preseason starting on 2 weeks ago, we have a limited time to preview teams for the upcoming season. This will be a 7 part preview. I’ll start with the east coast, then do the west and finally Part 7 will be my take on the upcoming season as a whole. In part two, we examine the off season for the Southeast Division.

Atlanta Hawks

• Draft: John Collins, Tyler Dorsey
• Acquired: Marco Belinelli, Ersan Ilyasova, Dewayne Dedmon, Luke Babbitt, Miles Plumlee, Jeremy Evans
• Lost: Paul Millsap, Jose Calderon, Dwight Howard
• Injured: Miles Plumlee

Atlanta Hawks had a longs summer. The Hawks lost Paul Millsap, Jose Calderon and Dwight Howard over the summer after trading away Kyle Korver in January. Atlanta also went through a front office change and the coaching position. THe ownership has decided that it needed a fundamental change and as it accumulated assets and made some room in the cap space. The Hawks are in full rebuild mode, only 2 years after going to the Conference Finals.

Charlotte Hornets

• Draft: Malik Monk, 
• Acquired: Dwight Howard, Michael Carter-Williams, Dwanye Bacon, Marcus Paige
• Lost: Ramon Sessions, Brian Roberts, Christian Wood
• Injured: Niocolas Batum

Charlotte has been anything but consistent in the past 4 years. The Hornets did add an aging Dwight Howard and drafted Malik Monk, but the rest of the roster is too young to make a push for the playoffs. The team seams to be constantly building and the on court product is lackluster. There are just too many variables on the Hornets right now. At the end of the year, Kemba Walker cannot take Charlotte to the playoffs for a 2nd consecutive year.

Miami Heat

• Draft: Bam Adebayo
• Acquired: Kelly Olynyk, Jordan MIckey, A.J. Hammons
• Lost: Josh McRoberts, Willie Reed, Luke Babbitt
• Injured: NONE

Unlike Charlotte, Miami is one of the best young teams in the NBA. Goran Drajic is fresh off winning EuroBasket MVP and the championship for Slovenia and signing a 5 year $60-million dollar deal with the Heat. The Heat also resigned Dion Waters , James Johnson and veteran Udonis Haslem. Miami has a huge chance to make a run this year.

Orlando Magic

• Draft: Jonathan Isaac, Wesley Iwundu
• Acquired: Jonathon Simmons, Shelvin Mack, Marreese Speights, Arron Afflalo
• Lost: Jeff Green, Jodie Meeks
• Injured: Adrien Payne

The Orlando Magic seem to be building for the last 10 years. Ever since the prime of Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu, Orlando has not been the same. Once at the top of the Eastern conference, they have lost all magic. Aaron Gordon returns with experienced sidekicks, with nothing more to offer. Luckily, the team has changed front office before the upcoming season.

Orlando Magic

• Draft: NONE
• Acquired: Tim Frazier, Jodie Meeks, Mike Scott
• Lost: Bojan Bogdanovic, Brandon Jennings
• Injured: Sheldon Mac, Markieff Morris

John Wall and the Wizards are looking to make a statement this year. After losing to the Celtics in the 7th game of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Wizards had to tie up some loose ends. The Wizards resigned Otto Porter and John Wall and brought in some help on the bench. Wizards should dominate this season and repeat as division champs, if everything goes to plan. The Wizards are confident and should be able to compete with the Celtics.