How the competition stacks up

[Eoghan]

Seeing as we're rebuilding and 2-3 years away from being really competitive, I thought it would be nice to talk about the direction the rest of the East is headed. I'll start with our SE division rivals.

Miami Heat
Projected starters: Pos/Years Left
Mario Chalmers PG/2 yrs
Dwyane Wade SG/4yrs
LeBron James SF/4yrs
Chris Bosh PF/4yrs
Joel Anthony C/3yrs

If the Heat fail to reach the Finals, a step back from last year, you have to believe some serious thought will be given to reassemble the Big 3. They need a huge upgrade at the C spot but with only the 27th pick this year, I doubt they fill it although Melo or Ezeli might help. Still, probably locked in as faves

Verdict: Plateau
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Orlando Magic

Jameer Nelson PG/1yr
Jason Richardson SG/3yrs
Hedo Turkoglu SF/2yrs
Ryan Anderson PF/FA
Dwight Howard C/1yr

This team is teetering on the brink of a rebuild. With only R. Anderson and JJ Reddick(1yr) (and Earl Clark) as guys whom aren't completely overpaid and worth keeping, they are inundated with aging vets with bloated contracts. Their only hope is trading Howard for a good package of young talent, but that remains to be seen. They do have the 27th pick but that's going to be a band aid on a stab wound. If they end up trotting out a roster of (19th pick)/Reddick/Clark/Anderson/G. Davis they're gonna be bad.

Verdict: Falling
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Atlanta Hawks

Jeff Teague PG/1yr
Joe Johnson SG/4yrs
Marvin Williams SF/2yrs
Josh Smith PF/1yr
Al Horford C/4yrs

With Joe Johnson's massive contract, this is a hard team for ATL to build around. Their entire bench could be a whole new cast of cheap vets looking to see if they can still cut it in the league (see: Stackhouse, Jerry; McGrady, Tracy). Teague will probably get a decent payday but will Smith seek greener pastures? Most likely. With only the 23rd pick, they're not likely to find their marquee C to move Horford to PF either but they might find a stopgap.

Verdict: Slowly falling off the treadmill, in a bad way.
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Washington Wizards:

John Wall PG/2yrs
Jordan Crawford SG/2yrs
Rashard Lewis SF/1yr
Jan Vesely PF/3yrs
Nene C/4yrs

The clock is starting to tick for the Wiz to give Wall a reason to keep balling in DC. With the 3rd pick, they'll be able to upgrade either their 2, 3, or 4 spot with Beal, MKG, or Robinson. They also have an early 2nd rounder which might add a little depth to their bench, which is pretty shallow everywhere but PF/C. Two big albatross contracts in Lewis and Blatche (3yrs remaining!) won't help but at least 'Shard is expiring finally. With a little draft luck and continued development of promising players like Seraphin and Vesely, the Wiz might actually start clawing out of the basement soon.

Verdict: On the rise.

[HornetJail]

The Heat are the only ones that we know are going to be a threat once we're halfway decent. The Wizards could take off if their young guys develop, are they could flop, you never know.
The Hawks will probably rebuild or retool, whether that's bringing in another big piece to try to get them into the championship discussion, or a complete roster blowup that trades Smith and Horford for draft picks and then amnesties Joe Johnson (unlikely)
The Magic will probably suck. With Dwight probably gone, and a plethora of bad contracts on their hands, it's gonna be a looooooooooooooooooooong rebuild for them.

[Walt Cronkite]

Good thread, bro Dave. Seems about right. Not sure that you care, but you attribute the 27th pick to both FL teams.

[captaincrunk]

Dave, how do both the Heat and Orlando have the 27th pick?

[Lil VanGrizz]

Who is Jason Randolph... haha

[Eoghan]

Fixed the errors, thanks. Was typing that too fast b/c my dinner was getting cold, lol.