NBA 2005-2006 Preview: Southeast Division

Part 3 of a 7 part series previewing the 2005-2006 NBA Season

Playoff seed (in parentheses) and projected record appear after name

Southeast Division

1. Miami Heat (1) 62-20
In the lighest division in the East, Miami will coast through the regular season....The deepest bench this side of San Antonio...Shaquille O'Neal is the man and you could make an argument for Dwayne Wade over Lebron. But sometimes stockpiling talent (Antoine Walker, Gary Payton, Alonzo Mourning, Jason Williams, James Posey) doesn’t always equate a World Championship... This team has the talent to win, but chemistry will tell how far they go.

2. Washington Wizards (8) 43-39
It hurt to lose Larry Hughes to Cleveland, but their general manager Ernie Grunfeld should be commended for essentially acquiring Chucky Atkins, Caron Butler and Antonio Daniels, three decent players with moderate contracts, to make up for the loss...If it will be tough for Gilbert Arenas to improve on last year, but if he stays at that level, the Wizards can be dangerous...Antowain Jamison will always give you 19 and 7, if he’s healthy...Brandon Haywood is a good center

3. Orlando Magic 35-47
Dwight Howard is the future of Orlando...Howard and Jameer Nelson make up good nucleus for the future, but not enought this year...Grant Hill is always a good story, but even if he is healthy again this year, it will be very tough for this team to make the playoffs...Steve Francis is Steve Francis, a hybrid point/shooting guard who puts up stats...Brian Hill was a good choice as coach, but it won't help.

4. Charlotte Bobcats 23-59
A last place team in almost any other division...5 NCAA titles between the players, but hardly any playoff experience... Building around Emeka Okafor, Sean May, Raymond Felton and Gerald Wallace is a good idea...They are still way, way too young to do anything...They will be better than the Raptors, though.

5. Atlanta Hawks 19-63
Josh Childress, Salim Stoudamire, Marvin Williams and Joe Johnson could make a good core for the future, but they have a similar swingman/offense first game...Will battle the Raptors for title of East's worst team...If Johnson can handle the role of "The Man" better than most expect, they could improve...There is some semblance of foundation, but not much