NLL Insider - Southeast Division Previewby KLEMMELO, updated on Saturday, November 19 2016, 07:13 pm EST  Team to beat: It’s pretty obvious, the big name in this division is the Orlando Magic. They already had a solid team to begin with and were knocking on the door, now they’ve managed to pull Kevin Love over who is a perfect fit in their line up. They can score from anywhere on the court and present match up problems at nearly every position. They do however have a glaring weakness at the small forward position seeing as both Batum and Carol now find themselves at home in different cities. The main talking point this season wont so much be if Orlando has any issues scoring but more so if they can stop other top teams from scoring against them. If they have to straight up outscore teams night in and night out then we’re going to see some inconsistency at stretches during this up coming season. Honourable mentions to the Miami Heat who will still be super effective and most likely follow up with another solid play off journey, but as they say father time is undefeated and has had another year to ravage this ageing roster. Key story line: The change in leadership. How will the Magic roster respond with GM Javijoe at the helm? Sure Laddas was eccentric and trigger happy at times but in the end he got the job done in terms of putting together a solid roster to contend... Before flying away on holiday with Simmons and Co. Surely nothing THAT bad could go wrong with a roster like this. It’s not like Javi isn’t coming in without any experience ether. The other question remains is that if all these moving pieces will work together as they fall into place… I’m sure it will be fine and it wont be long before the Magic proves to be one of the teams everyone groans about having to come up against in the crucial last weeks of the season. So the Heat will give it another crack sure, but will they have enough? When do you pull the trigger and decide to re build or at least re tool with such an old roster? Rudy Gay may not even be there in a years time… So at what point do you decide to clear books and start looking long term? Will be interesting to see how this roster will look like at the start of the 2017/2018 Season. Dirks last year? Will this be the final year for one of the all time greats?… You wouldn’t expect Charlotte to be making any big time noise come post season just yet, so its to be expected that this will be all about Dirk and the exponential development of this young side. Everyone will watch with keen eyes as these guys show exactly what they’re made of because in 2-3 years GM Digeze wont be able to pay all of them! Can the Wizards stay healthy? Will they admit defeat and start looking to trade for future assets if they don’t start performing from the get go? Another really old team with a lot of expiring contracts, if the record isn’t there how do they expect to sign any big names?… Does GM Darko just ride off into the sunset on the backs of Melo and Gasol or does he move them while they still have worth. Time will tell. The rise and fall of the Atlanta Hawks. Hopefully GM Frahminator can stay with this ball club for an extended period of time. Inconsistency and neglect has seen this team crash and burn. All of a sudden Monroe and Cp3 are really the only ones who will have any say in how many games the Hawks will win this year. Another team in a similar situation as the Wizards except their fate should be more apparent. Cp3 will have a big choice to make come next off season, up to the GM on wether that decision will effect him in a positive or negative way. Five best players: 1) Magic SG DeMar DeRozan- The focal point of the Magic offence and one of the most exciting up and coming stars in the league. Since coming to the Magic last season DeMar exploded for 30.2 PPG getting to the line more and getting it done on the defensive end too with 5.1 RPG and 1.4 SPG. This guy does it all and was even in talks of most improved last year based on the huge jump he made. Kevin Love coming over probably means he wont be scoring anywhere close to what he was last year, but means the Magic are pretty much well in the race for a championship ring. Perhaps we will see another level of DeRozan though with Love’s much needed perimeter offence spreading the defence for him to cause havoc. 2) Heat SF Rudy Gay- One of the original glitches and a nightmare matchup for anyone. This guy is super efficient, rebounds the ball and scores at a very high click. Inside or outside the guy can put the ball in the basket and has the midrange game down to a fine art. He’s the youngest starter in Miami at 30 and its going to be up to him to essentially shoulder almost all of the offensive load himself. We could see scoring numbers from him that we haven’t seen in years! 3) Wizards SF Carmelo Anthony- One of the most consistent and prolific scorers the NLL has ever seen. The Wizards are now Melos fifth team during his 13 year stretch while averaging close to 25 PPG over his career. Melo was acquired during last season and made an ageing and struggling team even older and to be honest, struggled himself immediately. Regardless he is still a super star and although no one really knows how the Wizards will go this year he will definitely still be making himself look good at the very least. 4) Magic PF Kevin Love- One of the best Power forwards in the game. He brings elite rebounding and perimeter scoring to the table and is exactly what the Magic need after making a move for him this off season sending Nicolas Batum to the Kings. His efficiency and offensive output has declined over the last couple of years, to the point it was painfully obvious he just wasn’t the right fit for a Kings squad so heavily driven by a ball dominant back court. He comes to the Magic as a proven leader and will be a huge part of another big three formed out east alongside Brook Lopez and DeMar DeRozan. I expect his numbers to sky rocket especially on the offensive end and be the missing piece to push Orlando into a deep play off run. 5) Hawks PG Chris Paul- The savy veteran point guard who’s still considered a top tier contributor in this league. He was good for 22.3PPG, 5.2 APG and among the league leaders in steals (1.9) last season. This hawks team looks so different post Wade and they’re going to struggle. I’m expecting Cp3 to have a big year numbers wise because I mean, who else is going to? There has been numerous change of hands over the last couple years and its yet to be seen what direction GM Frahminator is going to take this club. My bet is that 20ish games into the season a decision is going to have to be made; Which could very well see Cp3 being shipped for assets to a true contender who could deliver on that elusive championship. Sleeper: GM Darko has copped a whole lot of flak for certain decisions made and questionable tendencies with running his team. That being said though a big part of the inconsistent play at least last season was due to injuries. He has some solid pieces and they could at least win some games and hopefully look respectable. Im not saying they’re making the play offs or anything especially in the east, but if he could possibly make a few moves and at least make some headway with the future in mind then I would chalk that down as a successful season in my books. Breakout star: Can i just list the entire Hornets roster? Dirk will be a corpse running out onto the floor with twice the playing experience then the other 9+ guys suiting up every night. The front court of Turner and Porzingis is so unfair it’s not funny, they pretty much will have the league on lockdown for the next decade or so. Turner is a beast in his own right but the latvian gang banger is showing all signs to be a once in a generation type big man. Exciting stuff up ahead for the Hornets. Best newcomer: Brandon Ingram is going to steal the show in terms of polarising rookies right up until the point Simmons agent decides to let him play. If it wasn’t for GM Digeze investing in Dirks retirement plans then Ingram would probably be starting. That being said he will still be a solid option off the bench and is one decent gust of wind away from Dirk being sidelined for weeks to which he will relish in the extra playing time. Rookie of the year anyone? Prediction: The Orlando Magic by a country mile. Sure the South East division isn’t AS competitive as others, but there still will be some interesting divisional rivalries through out the season. The Hawks I see dropping off significantly and you just don’t know what you’re getting with the Wizards even on a good day. The Hornets are really a squad I see looking to sneak into the top 8 and the addition of Dirk will definitely see the young bloods develop at a substantial rate. The Heat will always be there of course, they have depth and experience. Although they may have trouble scoring on some nights they will at least get it done on the defensive end. In the end you could make a case that Magic will be fighting for a top four seed in the East if a few things go their way...
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