Can the Hawks or Magic Take a Leap? Wizards or Hornets’ Future? – Runnin’ the Paint Podcast (EP 155)
Hello everyone and welcome to episode 155 of the Run in the Paint podcast. I’m Miles here with Joey, Ben, and Nick. Guys, how are you doing today? Feeling good. Feeling great. Covering the last division. Let’s go. Yeah, we just went over. It’s not extra lighting. There’s a screen there’s a crack on my screen protector. So, there’s a bit of a extra It looks a little weird, but we’re here having a good time. I’m happy to be here. What’s up, boys? Excited to get into this last division. Can’t believe we are already here. and it should be a lot of fun. So, let’s try to get this portal out of the way real quickly so we can get into this division here. Um, let’s see. First player to guess today. I don’t usually guess the first player too often, so I’ll try to think of a player right now. Let’s go with Kevin Herder. Nice. He’s played for a decent amount of teams going someone outside of the division. It might end up being a player from the division. It’s an Eastern Conference. looks like a 67 forward who’s 28 or 29 years old and wears a number 10 or lower. Gonna be in either the Atlantic or the Southeast, which is what we’re doing today. I was thinking off the brip, um I know Orlando’s got a couple bigger guards like Jet Howard and Tristan Dilva, who’s a forwards like 67, 68, but those guys are too young. Yeah, we need a guy that’s like in the middle of his career. Looks like Desmond Bane is too young, too, right? He might be around this age. Uh, no. I think Oh, jeez. I don’t know. This is going to be another one of those where I don’t know if they’d consider him a guard or a forward. Oh, that’s true. I’m thinking he’s going to be a four. Yeah, it’s looking like just a straight up forward at 67 that’s 28 or 29 years old. All right, let’s let’s try to cook on this one. What about someone on the Wizards like uh AJ Johnson? Oh, older. I’m sorry. I’m tripping. Older. You could go with a guy like Jaylen Brown. Oh, really? Okay. I don’t know that. You think he’s 67? I do think. Yeah, 6 foot seven. We’ll see if he’s a really think 6 foot seven. Right, Nick? So, this is actually going to be someone in the Southeast division. a 29year-old that wears a itty bitty jersey number here. So, let’s see. This is one of the teams we’re covering today. So, it’s the Magic Hawks, Heat, Hornets, or Wizards. This is a young division, though, the Southeast. Like, I’m thinking Anthony Black is this height, but he’s young. Yeah. Like a veteran on one of these teams. And he’s a forward. Yeah. He’s a 67 forward. Jaylen Johnson is too young. Yeah. Yeah. It’s like all the better. of the Hornets. Miles Bridges. That’s not bad. That’s a good guess. I don’t know if he’s 29, though. Like, he came in the same draft class as like Luca and But he was also a couple years at Michigan State. But even then, I still Yeah. Even then, I still think he might be 27. But we could go with it. Do we want to try Miles Bridges? He I think it’s worth a shot. Sure. All right, let’s go with it. Miles Bridges. No good. But he’s the number zero in the Southeast division. Okay. Okay. Number zero on the Wizards is Bal Kulabali. Zero on the Hornets. Can’t think of right now. Bridges. Oh yeah, duh. Hornets. Yeah. Sorry. Uh Miami Heat number zero love anymore. Magic zero is Anthony Black. Atlanta number zero. the wing guy. Luke Canard. Dyson Daniels. I think he’s a guard though. Not right. Canard is a good guess. I think Canard. We should go with Canard. L Canard. Now with the Atlanta Hawks. I’m just not sure exactly what his jersey number is going to be. He also might be 6’5 though. I don’t think he’s he may not be that tall. Who else did Atlanta add? Do they still have Bogdan Bdanovich or not? He’s on the Clippers. Alexander Walker. It’s another one, but I think he’s more primarily a guard. I want to get this on four. I definitely want to get this on four, but this is not going to be this is not going to be easy, man. Number zero. So, I think it’s either Canard or No. I don’t I don’t think I think it’s one of It’s got I think it’s a Miami Heat player. I just No. They don’t have anybody old like that. Like uh they only have Andrew Wiggins. Yeah, unless it’s like Simone Fonteio who’s now on Miami. I don’t know what number he is, right? I don’t know. What do we think? I know he’s We can go Fonteio or Canard. I’m thinking Fonteio because he is for sure a forward. He should not be listed as a guard. Let’s try it. Simone Fonte. Oh, there we go. Simone in four. Let us know how long it took you guys to get Simone Fonteo. But now, let’s get into these divisions. And man, last season, a weird year for this division. Three playing teams and the number one team in this division was 500. So, a very odd year for for this division. Um, but we’ll see if there can be improvement because there are a couple teams that are poised to make some leaps this season. So, we’ll start off with the Orlando Magic. Play the song. Play the song. Play the song. Play the song. I’ll edit it in post. We’ll get it edited and posted. That’s right. Last season, the Orlando Magic after a breakout season in 2024, hit by injuries to Paulo Bancer, France Vagner, and Jaylen Suggs that forced their season to be pretty inconsistent. They ended up g probably getting a division champion banner for being 500 at 41 and 41, losing to the Celtics in five games in round one. And they got one of the biggest acquisitions in the offseason, getting Desmond Bane from the Memphis Grizzlies for Contavius Codwell Pope, Cole Anthony, and four first round picks. They signed Taius Jones to be their backup point guard, and they drafted Jace Richardson at 25, and they traded for Noah Penda at 31. So, this is the Orlando Magic’s roster. All of us here have been, you know, pretty decent fans of the Magic over this rebuild over the last couple seasons. So, Joey, let’s start off with you. What did you think about their off season and how they kind of addressed some of their weaknesses? Well, their biggest weakness over the last two years have been pretty consistent and it’s the shooting because it’s not consistent. Uh, their three-point shooting and their offense is still terrible. Um, but they addressed it by getting possibly one of the best guys that was on the market or or in trade rumors, uh, aka Desmond Bane, who shoots a three at pretty much a 40% clip, right? So, I think he kind of fits in perfectly for what they are going to do and need. However, if they really do want to take the next step, because at least in my opinion, they’ve been elite defensively for the last two years. I don’t see that changing, but I need France or Paulo or someone else to get consistently like shooting the ball f like consistently. Yeah. Um just someone like you can can’t leave open from three cuz I at least France has been a big liability. I know just cuz he can score in the regular season and be fine, but come postseason time, it just seems like the game plan is to cover Paulo and let the other guys shoot the ball and nobody else can shoot it. So hopefully Desmond Bane changes things. That’s what they’re hoping on. But it it’s not going to be just a one-man fix. I don’t think I think Fron, even Paulo can take another step. Maybe Jaylen Suggs when he comes back healthy. There’s hope though that they’re a very promising team to to point out the defense offense just how just different it is really for this team over the last couple years where they have been competitive in the 2024 season where they won 47 games, fifth in the East, second best defense, 22nd offense. And then last season their 41 and 41 season still had the second best defense in the league behind Oklahoma City. had the 27th offense in the league. And the number one uh reason for that really is just the lack of spacing and the three-point shooting. Uh Ben, well, they also they also need point guard point guard stability. I mean, Jaylen Suggs was out all year. Um I don’t know, Orlando’s in a weird spot because they brought in some new faces like Tai Jones is going to be playing backup point guard for them. I think that’ll help. I still think like there’s some untapped potential there with Anthony Black, too, as a point guard. I’m a big believer in him. Um but we’ll see how that works. But they’re in a weird spot because, you know, they brought in some new faces, but they’re still in sort of a development period for like a lot of like no one on their roster is over 29. I think Taius Jones is the oldest guy. Him and Jonathan Isaac are 28 and 29, and they’re the oldest two guys. So, it’s like they still have a development period. They got some new faces, but they’re also like trying to win now. So, it’s it’s just a weird spot for them to be in. Yeah, you’re right. oldest players on this Magic team are Tus Jones and just Ty Tus Jones at 29. So, this is still, you know, a young team that again has just started to be uh competitive there with all those young guys. Uh Ben, I mean, offensively, what do the Magic need to do to get out of being a bottom 10 offensive team? Because, you know, right now that’s probably the biggest thing holding them back from being a true title contender. Yeah. Um the offense, yeah, has held the back the last few years and well, I mean to get out of there, they’re going to need to shoot the ball from the outside better really. That’s the main thing I think. And you know, Desmond B should help with that a bit. He’s always recently been a pretty good consistent three-point shooter, but I don’t think, you know, he’s totally enough to fix that. And well, Magic didn’t really add any other like pretty good outside shooters off season. So, I mean, you gotta hope some guys will step up from there. But they did draft Jace Richardson who I did think the Magic of Greek Valley in the draft. I really like him. I think he could potentially turn into a nice free and D guy for the Magic and it and it would be nice to see Flashes of that this year for the Magic. The other thing is they need I mean they need to push the ball. They were 29th in pace last year. There’s no reason that this young athletic team should be walking the ball up the court. I think like they need to get Paulo in better situations. I think having a point guard will help with that, but like Paulo is not the point guard. Like a lot of times he can be the engine in late game situations or like for a game, but throughout the course of the season like you’re going to want him attacking close outs. You’re going to want him like making connector passes and hitting spot like being a threat from deep. So, he’s not the point guard and they need to push the pace. Yeah. Well, and I think the problem was Jaylen Suggs was out for a lot of last year and you saw like at the end of the year and in the playoffs, Cory Joseph was the starting point guard and percentage- wise he was their best three-point shooter at what 36%. Yeah, 36.4% from three, which is about league average. And now he doesn’t have a job. He’s not in the league. So, it’s obviously going to improve with Jaylen Sils being back. Taius Jones, great backup point guard. You know, he does he’s not going to make mistakes out there and he can knock down some shots as well. Um, yeah, I mean that that’s really my biggest question. Like obviously Desmond Bane coming in is going to help them out a lot, but again, he’s only one player. Like one player is not going to fix a team shooting 32% from three as a whole team through throughout a season. And so they’re going to need to find some improved shooting from some of those other guys. Particularly if Paulo three-point shooting in the playoffs can now translate to the regular season because in the regular season he shoots a career 32% from three. It’s up to 42% in his two playoff series against the Celtics and the Cavs in his first two playoff series. So those need to get better. And of course, France Vagner has to get better from what 30 30% from three the last two seasons. That’s so bad. What’s their What’s their overunder? Overunder for the Orlando Magic is 50 and a half wins, which is third in the East uh for this team because of course defense is going to win you a lot of games. And they did acquire he Desmond Bane could be an all-star caliber player in the East. He can do a lot of different things. He’s not just a three-point shooter. he can operate and pick and roll. So, you know, this is a team that that could do some special things and they’re projected to be a 50 win team this season. What do you guys think about this? Um, I don’t know if they’ll get to 50. I would probably go slightly under. They’re kind of handcuffed with the roster they have because they are the first apron. So, I don’t really see them going out to make a move to, you know, bring in anybody else. Um, and I think it’s going to take some time for them to like gel with the new faces like Bane and stuff. Um, what was their record to end the year last year? 14 and 12 after the All-Star game. Yeah, I think they’ll probably be right around that pace for the whole year. And I don’t know. I mean, it’s around 50 wins, but I’d probably shade under. Interesting. I probably I’d probably go just a bit under as well. I don’t think they hit 50. I I kind of have to see it to believe it. Their offensive problems because their defense Yeah. They’re easily a 50- win team, but their offense is just so just so bad. And at least it has been the last couple years. I I I don’t think it gets them to 50 wins. Ben, what do you think about 50 and a half for the Orlando Magic? Yeah, I’m gonna have to go under because I think their offense kind of holds the bet and I think it will still even though I think they’ll improve a bit more there of Desmond Beam, but um yeah, it there still isn’t totally enough with the shooting really. So, I just think that’s what’s going to hold them back to being there. Yeah, I agree. slight under for the Magic. Um, but they they should definitely be focused on being one of they need to be a homec court advantage team in the Eastern Conference. I feel with that defense in the regular season. They got to be a homec court advantage team and then, you know, slowly we’re going to need to see this team at least win a playoff series, you know, at this point because they’ve it’s been trending towards the direction of them having this type of leap. I I mean, we’re seeing that with them being projected to win 50 and a half games. you know, it just may be too early for this team, but that the mindset for them should be homec court team and win a playoff series. I got one question for all y’all. If they don’t get homecourt advantage, but they do make the playoffs, like maybe they barely get the fifth seed, like whoever, maybe Philly, like we said, could pop in there and do really well and they just happen to lose because it beats back to an MVP level. if that happens, but their offense gets slightly better, but if they don’t make get home court advantage, do you think uh the coach is on the hot seat? I was gonna ask that. Jamal Mosley, I I think that if they even if they do well in the regular season, I think if they don’t win a playoff series, he’s going to get fired. I agree. Um because what’s actually it’s actually kind of funny because he’s very you know in the coaching world he’s very close with JB Bicker staff and I kind of see some parallels with JB Bicker Staff on the Cavaliers like obviously Orlando the they don’t have the three-point shooting for them to have an amazing offense but I still feel like there are some coaching strategic things that the Magic could do better like like you said Nick for this young athletic team that does have potentially opportunities to get out in the open break they should not be a bottom 10 team in pace. And I think that is 29th last year. Oh yeah. Second lowest pace in the league. So I I I think that that can also be partly on coaching. So even if they have like a 50- win season, I feel like if they if they lose in the first round again, then he’s going to get canned for someone that is just a better offensive coach and they can unlock this team later. I agree. Um but either way, excited to see the Magic, their new uniforms, their new logo. They brought the pinstripes back. So excited to see how they look good on 2K. They look good on 2K. Yeah, they definitely look good there. But moving on, we’ll go to the Atlanta Hawks who last season were 40 and 42, eighth in the East, but lost to the Magic and then the Miami Heat in the playing tournament. So, they ended up being a lottery team. Um, they did all that despite Jaylen Johnson, who had a monster second season getting injured midway through the season, making some trades midway through the season. Um, and then this off season makes some pretty good moves. They get Chris Staps Porzingis from the Celtics and a salary dump move from them. And then they go out and sign Nquille Alexander Walker and Luke Canard. And they also drafted Ace Newell in the first round. And they also acquired the best of New Orleans or Milwaukeekey’s first round pick for this season. So Nick, they they had a very good off season for the position they were in. This is their team. What do you think about the Hawks off season? I thought they had probably the best off seasonason in the East, maybe in the whole league. Uh only other team in that conversation for me is the Clippers. Um the Hawks and the Clippers had two of the best off seasons, like you said, added KP. Um and then a big thing is honestly they moved on from the Trey Young Deonte Murray experiment. So like we’re going to see Dyson Daniels get his run and Atlanta can just basically close a chapter on that whole um enigma of a of a situation. like when they when that duo came together, I’m like, it’s just a crappier version of Garland and Donovan and they never really were able to achieve much. Um, so I think it was good that they were able to move on from that. Something you didn’t mention is that they also signed Jaylen Johnson’s brother out of USC this year. Kobe Johnson is has a contract with Atlanta, so they’re going to have a duo of brothers there. Um, my big questions for this team going into the year are what’s the center rotation look like? How are KP and Aneko Kongu gonna split time? Are they going to split time? Are one of them going to win out as a starter? Um, I think that’s going to be an interesting competition to monitor throughout uh the year. Probably one of the best positional competitions across the league. Um, and then the other question I have is can Jaylen Johnson like affirm himself as a reliable number two option? He was 19, 10 and five last year on like 50, 31, and 74 from the line, which is pretty good. Um, he may even need to be like a number one option because, you know, Trey Young’s taking a step back and whatnot. So, if him and Reese can combine for close to 50 a night, you’re going to be cooking um on the offensive end because you got a lot of other pieces around them around those guys. and Trey Young. It’s a pretty good dynamic big three scoring wise um with a pretty decent roster around them. But if they’re struggling those two to average 20 a piece, like if they’re more around 40 under 40 um combined average, like I don’t know. I think that’s something else to just watch as the season goes on. So, Ben, last season we kind of got to see kind of the formula for how you can build a great team around Trey Young surrounding him with only defense and length with Dyson Daniels who was most improved player last season for the full season, nearly one defensive player of the year. Ree Sache the number one pick, Jaylen Johnson, he was there and then Aangu and now they bring in Porzingis and Alexander Walker. I mean, I Ben, I just think the Hawks did such a great job building out this roster to fit around their all-star point guard. Yeah, I agree. Um really like their off season building, you know, defense, the way they’ve started building recently passed the Jonte Murray. It’s been the right way to build by the Hawks. My biggest question mark for Atlanta is going to be how good Chris Tots will be. I mean, who knows what you’re going to get out of him. I mean, he just looked like that last year on the Celtics, but the Hawks could get a Porzingis who, you know, stays somewhat healthy, looks great defensively, plays pretty well offensively, just looks dominant at times in the paint, but I think that could bring the Hawks up to an even another level this year. that could make them scary if he could look like, you know, Porzingis that he that he was when he was looking really good on the Celtics and um yeah, I think they had pretty good shooting around Trey Young’s pretty good defenders along with Trey Young. Kila Alexander Daniels in that back court plays some pretty good defense to complement the scoring. I really like that. I really like how the Hawks are built and this team’s going to be great. They stay healthy. Kak co. Yeah, Joey. I mean, I think what Ben brought up with Porzingis is obviously important because I mean, he is a very special player when healthy. I mean, even last year in the regular season, he had a very good year. I mean, he averaged 20.7 rebounds, shot 41% from three. don’t think that gets talked about enough how he was still such a great player last year just because of the weird viral illness that made him unplayable in the playoffs. But we did get to see during Euro basket him looked pretty good. I mean in the six games he averaged 20 points and nine rebounds and in the final game where uh Latvia got eliminated by Lithuania 34 points and 19 rebounds for Chris Porzingis. So, it appears that he’s going to be that all-star player. And if he can be that, I feel like the Hawks could do some special things. I would 100% agree with that. If he stays healthy and stays not like just that effective, oh my gosh, you’re not going to need uh what Nick said, 50 out of uh Reese and Johnson. you’re going to get 50 out of Johnson and KP or Johnson and Trey Young or KP and Trey Young. It could or Reese Shay like if Reese Shay takes that jump like I’m not discounting him. I’m trying not to at least but I like him a lot. They they literally have now four if Reese takes that jump. They have four guys that two of those guys can combine for 50 and then you’re kind of set because like you said, they have defenders at every position that can really help them. Obviously, Trey Young’s just going to be just running that offense, but if you have Dyson guarding whoever the best guard is, you’re you’re kind of set. And Reese Shay, this team is I’m really hype on the I’m I’m really hype on the Hawks this year. They might have two or three allstars this year. I think that’s that could definitely be in play. I mean, look, we’re I mean, the starting lineup in general could put up 80 to 90 a game if healthy. Like, so what do what do you guys think is their ceiling? I mean, as far gosh, their ceiling, I honestly think that the sky could be the limit for this team potentially. I agree. Like in the regular season, I don’t know. I again defense. Do they deserve one yet then? Do they deserve a ceiling? No, not until Maybe that’s the better question. Well, see, that’s the thing because it feels weird to say that the Atlanta Hawks shouldn’t have a ceiling and the sky is the limit for them. But dude, this team could be I mean, I would honestly not be shocked at all. You know, of course, Cleveland right now with projecting the East. It’s Cleveland and New York and then it’s everyone else. And that’s expected to be the Eastern Conference Finals. not going to be I’m not going to count out that this Hawks team beats one of those teams and makes it deep in the playoffs. Well, here’s the thing. You talk about those 16 player guys. Um they just brought in or 16 game players for the playoffs. They just brought in three of them in free agency and Porzingis, Canard, and Naw. And then this guy that they drafted at 23, Asa Newell out of Georgia. He’s 19, bro. 6’11. Shot 30% from three last year. Um he was he went he was number 11 out of high school. Um went to Georgia. He went to Mont Verde. I forget who we played with down there, but he’s legit. That That’s the That’s the funny thing about the Atlanta Hawks and like this division, you know, we just talked about at Orlando where they are kind of in win now mode where they have the talent. Like same with the Atlanta Hawks, they got Trey Young and Porzingis who are now getting up there in age and with Jaylen Johnson already getting injured. like you kind of want to win as soon as possible because you never know when the injury bug is going to hit or when are these guys going to really start to regress. Um, but you also have Reese Shay and Asa Newell and again Jaylen Johnson just finished. It’s only third or fourth year now, right? Like and Tyson Daniels is still they’re their guys are still developing way too much. Like they still have a lot of development to go through. And like that’s why like I don’t really want to put a ceiling on them yet, but I I feel like the floor isn’t as high though just because they do have that because they haven’t made the playoffs. I feel like the floor is just to make the playoffs, whether it’s win the play tournament or ideally a top six seed in the East, which is very, very doable for this team. Yeah. I mean, I I feel like the thing going against this Hawks team is the fact that their front court is so injuryprone over the years with Borzingis, we know his injury history, it’s been well documented. And then quietly Jaylen Johnson’s last two seasons, which have been fantastic, were both ended by season ending injuries. They only played 36 games last season. Now, luckily they do have players that can help that out a little bit. Like Akongu is good. I don’t think there’s any question that Porzingis will start. Aongu will come off the bench. I don’t think there’s a question on that. But it’s a good situation for him too because if Porzingis is out then a Congo gets to start um then that backup center becomes a question because you never know. I mean I you don’t I don’t want to trust rookies too much on these types of team like ASU I think will be good. I don’t want to count on anything from him this year, right? Um I think Canard is, you know, Canard being a great three-point shooter is going to help out. Um you know, they’re going to need their perimeter guys to knock some shots down because Trey Young, I I think Trey Young is in for a more efficient season because last year he was the best playmaker in the league. Still averaged 24 points per game, but could definitely still be efficient. And who knows, maybe this whole thing with Patrick Beverly over the last couple days can start to get seeing that. Um, I’m expecting Trey Young to put up a Darkhorse MVP season. Darkhorse. I don’t think he’s going to win the thing, but I I think this Hawks team should have their eyes set on being one of the top teams in the East. Yeah, I was going to say here’s the thing. Trey Nick said he had a down year last year. Or you didn’t you say that? Yes, he did. No. Yeah, you did say that. We do have it on tape. We can replay the tape. You I’m the I’m the biggest supporter of Trey Young on the That’s why I was shook when you said it. I’m like, he had a down year or he’s reg he’s getting up. I’m like, he’s maybe his scoring was down is what I said. I don’t think I would have said he had a down year. I was like, he averaged 24 points and he shot like Yeah, he shot 34 from three. I’m not going to count on Trey Young shooting that inefficiently, which 34% still isn’t really that bad. What’s our number? Overunder for the Atlanta Hawks is 46 and a half wins, which is fourth in the East. up going over. I’ll probably take the over on that, Ben. It is trick. It is still tricky because when they’re healthy, they should be really good, but that could be kind of around there. They just got the number right, Ben. Uh, I got to pick something. I’ll go just a slightly under, but we’ll see. be good, but there’s a question mark that team that I’m questioning them on how how reliable guys be and stuff, but they could be a good team though that will, you know, compete. Yeah, I’m going over I expect I expect this team to be a 50- win team this season in a week east. I expect them to be a 50- win team and a potential to go deep in the playoffs like Every time you guys say that, every time you guys say that about the Hawks, it just never never happens. But they have ne they haven’t had an all-star caliber for with a defensive player of the year caliber at the two guard. Like this is I think this is by far the best team that they’ve put together since Trey Young’s been there. Yeah, I agree. Possible. I mean, this is one of the better looking rosters that they’ve ever had. So I But this will be the final year. I’ll say this will be the final year that I’m expecting something from the Hawks because they do have the roster to do something and Quinn Snyder is still there and he’s a good coach. So, I am expecting good things from the Hawks and if they don’t do it then I’m done. It’s done. But anyways, next team, the Miami Heat who last year basically had a big cloud over them the first half of the season with Jimmy Butler uh who then got traded to the Golden State Warriors. The Heat then had a weird second half of the year, 10-game losing streak in the second half of the year. Ended up getting the 10th seed in the East, winning both playing games against Chicago and Atlanta to become the first 10th seed ever to make the NBA playoffs before absolutely getting destroyed by the Cleveland Cavaliers in round number one. This off season, they acquired Norman Powell from the Clippers for basically nothing. And then they got one of the steals of the draft getting Kasparis Jakushon at 20. So Ben, let’s start off with you. What did you think of the off season for the Miami Heat? I like their off season. Norman Pow, I think he’s a guy that fits that culture. He’ll come in, play hard, give you some good scoring. I think that’ll help the scoring. Think could be a good like bird option scorer there. And I think the Heat this year will be good. I think last year was just an off year for the Heat with the whole Butler situation. I think just when I watched the Heat last year seemed off, but they still got coach sposed their coach. I think they’re going to figure things out this season, turn things around some more and look good and look more competitive and and um I’m interested to seeing, you know, how will Tyler Her do this year as a number one scorer. Uh that’s my biggest question mark to me. Will Hero, you know, do good enough with the scoring, you know, the get them, you know, kind of far anywhere or really not. I believe he could be a pretty good scoreer, a potential allstar guy this year, but I question that. And I believe Bam will could get back more to form this year. and he it look pretty good on both ends. Yeah, Joey, what are your thoughts about the Miami Heat again? Last year it it was so weird seeing them have that off year and the way that they they made the playoffs but then basically gave up and died in half the games of that Cleveland series. So, what do you expect to see from them uh this season? Well, I agree with Ben and said I like their off season a lot. get Norman Powell for basically nothing. A steal of the draft. And I do think last year was an off year. And it’s it’s coach Spo and this Heat culture. We always talk about it year after year, but it’s a real thing. They’re going to be competitive this year. This roster is much more competitive than it was last year in my opinion. Even with the um like the Jimmy Butler saga over it, I I low-key kind of like this team better. I think there’s a little more balance. They got decent depth. Um well, maybe outside of the center, but um I’m the the big question mark. I it goes along with the Tyler. I It’s that back court. Tyler Herrell and Norman Powell. I’m really intrigued to see how it’s going to work out because both those guys are legit 20 point scorers or at least Norman Pow’s last year and the Heat are going to need him to be scoring those 20 points a game otherwise their offense is in Miami is going to look terrible. But I have no questions about that front court and KL wear and Bam. I think they’re going to be dominant. I think Bam’s going to be back. But it’s that back court. I I’m just curious at how it’s going to play. Like I know Harold can play the point guard. It’s just I think it’s going to be a bit of an adjustment. I think we’re not going to really see the full potential of the Miami Heat until maybe like the second half of the year. They still got DaVon Mitchell, too, and they really like him. I I like him a lot, too. The thing with Miami is their contract situation is just a mess. Like, I’m not very interested in the Heat this year or next, to be honest. Um I don’t think they’re going to be very good. They I mean they have a chance because the East is terrible to compete for like even a top six spot like I could legitimately see them doing because Tyler and Norm are great and then you got BLware who are pretty solid as well. Wiggins is still a very good player too like with Miami he put up 18 19 points per game. Like he had a bounceback year compared to the previous with Golden State. So they’re starting five across the board. It’s pretty good. It’s solid. Yeah. Here’s let me go through their contracts real quick because they got 46 million expiring this year and then 100 million altogether expiring in the next two. So the only guys who are going to be on their roster that have contracts through the next two years are Bam and Mitchell Damon Mitchell and then all the guys on rookie deals with Keller Himehakas Yakonis and Pelle Larson. So expiring contracts that gives you Hero, Wiggins, Rosier, Powell, and Yovic all in the next two years. So they’re going to be having a lot of money off their books. So really what what all all that comes down to is like who do we bring back from that group? Like Hero, Wigan, Jose, Powell, and Yoic. Are we bringing them back? Because we’re not keeping all of them at their current price. And like who can we make a deal with to bring back? And then yeah, I think they’re just looking a couple years out. I they might be looking just next off seasonason, the 2027 offseason kind of like what the Clippers are doing and I’m sure other teams are doing as well. I mean the Brooklyn Nets with all the cap space they have as well because I mean there are some bigname free agents and they I think that’s a big reason why they made the Norman Pal trade. They got off some money and Norman Pal while he you know he’s really good and he’s inexpiring for 20 million this year. Terry Roier’s awful $27 million will be up after this season. Fonteio’s 8 million will be off after this season. Um, and then Heroes on the last year of his deal next season for 33 mil and they’ll have to decide whether they want to extend him or anything like that cuz um, but yeah, as far as this season goes, I think that they do have a again they have a decent looking team. I mean, this isn’t bad. I got a question. I got a question for you guys because Hero is going to be eligible for a threeyear $150 million extension after this season or I think he already is now. Like they could restructure next year’s deal to include that. Would you guys sign him to that deal? $50 million player Tyler Herro. I really got to see it this year. I feel like you brought up a lot of good points. I feel like this year is like a try out year for a lot of these guys where but I feel like I have to see it first. And you know the Heat are going to be in that uh meeting room boardroom with the agents and the players like can you come down to this number? Oh yeah. Yeah. I mean I don’t know. I mean last season I mean he averaged 24 five and six. He did make his first All-Star team. So I mean he was very good. He’s obviously you know a great three-point shooter. He had some crazy takeover moments throughout the year. I can the biggest one I can remember was a game against the Lakers early in the year where he scored like 20 plus points in the third quarter to blow open the game. Um but you know it’s defensively if those guys can can hold up in the backboard like I think that’s my question with this team. Again, all these guys are pretty good in the starting lineup, particularly Hero and Adabio, those are seen as like the two big building blocks going forward. But do they, in order for them to compete and be a, you know, contending team again, do they need a Jimmy Butler-like player? Do they need someone to be the alpha dog, better player than those guys, or can Bam bounce back and become the number one player on the team? Can Hero be the best player? You know, things like that. I think one of those guys can do it, but yeah, one of them has to be it. They do need one of those guys to be an alpha dog, but it just depends on who it’s going to be. Um I don’t think they’re making a conference finals with either of them as their best player, right? Put it that way, I guess. Yeah, I wouldn’t I don’t I wouldn’t think so either on this roster. Yeah. Uh yeah, I wouldn’t think so either. But uh so let’s go to their projected win total this season, Ben. pair projected to win 38 and a half games, which is just over their 37 win mark last season. The 38 and a half would have them ninth in the East to win the playing again. Uh Ben, what do you think about this for the Heat? Yeah, that’s interesting. But I’m going to have to go to over. Um I think they can win some more games with that. not a ton of games, but you know, I think they he, you know, can with a decent amount of games, you know, just sneak into the postseason and stuff kind of like they’ve done before and and yeah, you I mean, they’re just they’ll be better this year, but kind of similar to before. Joey, what do you think? I tend to agree. uh slightly over closer to 500 maybe around 40 maybe 40 41 games but I I just think with the heat culture spo they got a lot of guys that Butler uh saga is over I think they got a lot of guys that are just going to play hard and like try out because there are so many expired I think they know that there’s so many expiring contracts to play harder than a lot of people are predicting. Nick, what do you think? Um, yeah. I think they’re almost certainly going to be between 35 and 40. Um, this 38 and a half number is like one win too high for me because I I I’ll go under. I think they’re more likely to win 36 or 37 or 38 than they are 39, 40 or 41. Yeah, I think I’ll go slightly over, but right around this mark, too. I think they definitely got better. Um, you know, getting again getting Pal for nothing I think is great because he had a great year last year for the Clippers. Um, and I also think that the way that their season ended last year is going to boost them up this year. Like I am very sure that Eric Spolstra and that heat coaching staff is not happy about them losing the first round to a Cavs team by 122 points and get and losing by 55 and 37 in their two home playoff games. Like they got swept. Yes. So if you add those four losses, they ended the year 12 and 21 after the All-Star game after the Butler trades where, you know, things were, you know, iffy. So you never know. I mean, I don’t know if that I’m kind of throwing that second half of the year record kind of out the window because there were just so many things going on. Um, and they were just so inconsistent. But I will go slightly over. I think this will be a team that’s probably right under 500. But it wouldn’t surprise me if this roster wasn’t good enough to be that competitive because, you know, all the guys are solid, but it, you know, it’s nothing too special. Yeah, they had three play this division had three playing teams last year, now potentially three playoff teams. It could if if if that if Miami I’ll tell you I I honestly think I’ I’d have to see how my standings predictions play out, but I feel like it would kind of be a surprise to most if the Heat ended up making the playoffs as like a top eight as far in the playing like if they hosted a playing. I think people would be surprised by that. But anyways, moving on. Now we’ve talked about three playing teams. Now we’re going to the basement in the Eastern Conference. the two worst teams last season, the Charlotte Hornets, who last season in a year where there were some expectations for them to maybe be competitive, they won 19 games, 14th in the East. They got the fourth pick in the draft, they selected Khan Canipple. Also got Liam McNeely, Ryan Caulkrunner, and Seion James. And they also brought in Colin Ston, Spencer Denwy, and Mason Plumbley. So, a whole array of moves here for the Charlotte Hornets. Joey, uh, what did you think about their off season? I actually kind of liked it and they moved on from Mark Williams finally because that was just a mess. Um, but I like their off seasonason. Again, they’re making good moves, but some of these guy, they need to show improvement. They need to learn how to win. I I I truly don’t know what to do with with Charlotte at this point. Like, they got great young talent. They got a lot of young guys, but until these guys know how to win, and unfortunately with Miles Bridges and LaMelo Ball being there as your quote unquote leaders of that team, uh, you’re not going to really learn how to win. And that’s just the unfortunate cycle I think Charlotte’s in right now. Yeah, Ben, this off season, I mean, I think they I think would you say they had a pretty successful draft. I mean, they brought in some good-looking prospects and then they brought in a lot of guards this off seasonason. Like, they have a lot of decent guards on their team. What What did you think about their off season? Overall, I liked their off season mainly because of the draft. Um, they had a decent amount of draft picks this year. I thought they took some nice prospects with some good potential with those picks and you know some of those guys you know those rookies you know helped the Hornets to be pretty good in the summer league shows a good flashes there like Kanipple pretty good in summer league I feel good about him coming to his rookie year for the Hornets I think he could be a nice pairing along with Leella in the back court coming up the Hornets you That was all states stuff. And then I like uh Liam McNeely and uh the other guy they drafted out of Duke could be something as like a good defender for them. And Ryan Coffurn gives them better big man death. Um he get spacing the floor as a big guy. I guess speed tap for big guy and really the Hornets. Yeah, they’re just all right. I mean, I hope to stay healthy this year. The main thing I really want is I really want a healthy year for Lamelo. He’s a lot of fun to watch when he could play. Yeah. Nick, what what are your overall thoughts on the Hornets team? The Hornets are kind of like the Hawks, my Hawks. I just keep putting like blind faith into them. Like last year, I think I had them 11th. Uh that I I’ve been I’ve been high on the hornets for the last couple years just because I think like my belief was placed wrongly into LaMelo where like I thought that his career would have gone a bit better than it has up to this point. Um but like you guys said, they just need to be healthy. Um, I do think LaMelo, Brandon Miller, and Conanuple uh, have the potential to be really interesting and I really would just like to see those three guys on the court the whole season and see what see what see if they can win more than 19 games together cuz that would be a win uh, for Charlotte at this point. Like you said, Joey, it’s just they’re kind of in this cycle of learned helplessness. If you guys are familiar with that term, it’s like where you just keep getting beaten over and over and then you learn to like not even try because you’re just gonna get beat. Yeah. Well, you know what? That’s something that I’m we can talk we’ll talk about with our next team with the Washington Wizards. They have done a decent job over the last couple years of they started last year off off balance on the roster and then they brought in veterans. So, so the Wizards were clearly tired of losing these games and so they brought in some veterans. Hornets didn’t really do that. I mean, as far they brought in some guys. I mean, they bring in Mason Plumbley, Spencer Denwy, and Colin Ston, but it’s not like any of those guys really know winning. Like, even Colin Sexton’s a good player, but he I think behind Lowry Markin is has is has the title of most games play without a playoff game play either. So, you know, they don’t have winners on this team. And I and I like this team a lot. I think they brought in some decent winners as far as with the draft. I think they brought in some decent, you know, rookies and I’m excited to see how all those guys how all of those guys play. I’m excited to see Brandon Miller again. Um but I mean everyone else it’s like I’m really only looking to see Brandon Miller, Colin Ston because I want to see him play well enough to get traded to a good team because I because I because I like Colin Ston. Um and how all all their other rookies play. I feel like everyone else, we know what they’re going to we know what we’re going to get from them. And from the last three seasons, there are no signs of this team winning any games because they don’t have any winners on their team. Yeah, that’s pretty simple. That’s that’s just what it comes down to. A lot of talent, but they just don’t know how to win. And I think across the board in the league, in order for you to get up from being a lottery team at the bottom of the conference, you got to find a way to bring in some winning veteran players. I think across the board with successful teams, you need to bring in those guys. Like we’re seeing, we saw at the Yeah, we saw Detroit, they bring in Tim Hardway and Tobias Harris last season, they jump up. Oklahoma City brings in Alex Caruso, Isaiah Hardenstein, us as Cavs fans way early on in the rebuild. Kevin Love is still there. They bring in Ricky Rubio, even end of the bench guys like Ed Davis, Robin Lopez, like you need those guys to help your team. And the Hornets don’t even have that. like their vet is Mason Plumbley and like Miles Bridges and LaMelo because they’ve been on the team for so long. So, as far they’re projected to win 27 and a half games, which is third worst in the East. Where where do you guys put the Hornets? Because again, on paper, they are a talented team, but Joey’s going under. I’m I’m kind of hammering the under. I think 20 going from 19 to 27. Like I know the East is like we think the East is going to be much worse, but I don’t see them pulling like even close to that. I think they’re barely going to get over 20 wins. Wow. Interesting. All right, Nick, what do you think? under. Um I think the mid teams like the mid teams and the question mark teams like Miami um 76ers, Bucks even like they’re going to beat up on this on this team. I don’t see I don’t see Charlotte really, you know, stealing wins from many teams that aren’t the Nets or the Wizards. Um so agree. I would go under as well. 27 seems pretty high. Interesting. All right, Ben, how about you? Yeah, I think uh I would have had them around where Vegas has them. Um bit tricky. Um go the slightly over feeling slightly over if I had the pick. Um, yeah, overall I don’t think the Hornets will be very good, but I think they’ll stay more healthy and overall a better team the last year. Some good young guys that will develop even more to where they’ll get some more wins, but not a ton of wins though. I’m glad we have at least one person on this panel that’s a believer in the hope that the Charlotte Hornets have. Yeah. Uh, I have them a little under. I think they’re going to win 23 to 25 games. Um, I dude, if this team still is in the teens for wins, then a whole lot has to change. I mean, you’re this is this will be the first team that the league looks for when they go to expansion. if that happen like it’s, you know, that’ll be a disaster because again on paper they got talented players like across the board but I mean something we didn’t really talk about was the center position. Holy moly, they’ll roll Mason Plumbley and Musa Diabate who’s a you know great rebounder but he’s strictly like an energy guy. I think he’s 68 or 69 than Kulk Brener. Um I mean this is just needs to be a trial run for a lot of the young guys to play. I mean, even like non rookies that’ll get, you know, more experience. Like Trey Man had a good start to the year before getting hurt. I like Nick Smith Jr. Um, we’ll see. To John Salon so far looks like one of the worst top picks from I guess last year’s draft. We’ll see if he can have a bounceback sophomore year, but either way, not really too excited for the the Hornets. Him being below Grant Williams on that dev chart is very, very telling. Yes, it is. But now we go to a team that was the worst in the East, the Washington Wizards at 18 wins last season. This offseason they had the sixth overall pick. One of the worst luck uh you know worst odds in the lottery there uh to get Trey Johnson at the sixth overall pick win. Ace Bailey wanted to go to the Wizards, but the Jazz took him at number five. Trey Johnson goes to the Wizards. They also got Will Riley. And then they also made a swap essentially for CJ McCullum to Jordan Pool or the other way around. So CJ McCullum now with the Wizards cool on the Pelicans and they also swung into a trade to get Cam Whitmore from the Houston Rockets. So this is what the Wizards team is looking like. Um in the middle of last season they uh traded Kyle Koosma for Chris Middleton and AJ Johnson. So you could tell over the last couple seasons they’ve been trying to bring in some veteran guys to help mentor the younger players. So Joey, what are your thoughts on the on the Washington Wizards and just their outlook last season? um season they did the right moves. They finally moved on from Koosma and Jordan Pool. So, they’re immediately massive W in my book for the Washington Wizards. Like, you guys are going in the right direction. And again, what we were just saying about the Charlotte Hornets bringing in veterans that know how to win, well, you’re bringing in CJ McCullum who’s had great years with Dame Lillard and can really teach Bub Carrington a lot. Not to mention, you bring in Chris Middleton, who is won a championship with the Milwaukee Bucks. So, they now have some decent winners to teach these guys whether they’re going to win a lot of games or not. They’re going to know how to prepare. They’re going to know what to do. They’re going to get that feeling sooner than the Charlotte Hornets. I personally think this team is better than that Charlotte. I don’t think they finish worse in the East again. They got a lot of talent. I know Koulali, he just got injured, right? How is he out for a couple months? Was it? Uh, so there there hasn’t been a timetable. He had a thumb injury during Euro Basket, which requires surgery. Also to mention, he did not look good in Euro Basket. He averaged six points and four rebounds in Euro Basket. That’s not for a French team that didn’t have Victor Wimbeyama. They didn’t have Rudy Goar. Nick Batum wasn’t on the team. So, he was really like the piece and he really didn’t perform well. But yeah, he’s a guy that’ll probably miss the start of the season. Um, Nick, what what are your thoughts about the Wizards? I mean, I feel like they’ve made some pretty decent moves over the last couple years again bringing in these veterans. Um, yeah, I have to agree with Joey. I I like this roster a bit better than um the Hornets. The one thing that they’re really missing on this roster is a a huge like big-time scorer. And I think even though they missed out on Ace Bailey, like Trey Johnson is a is a lights out dynamic scorer who can uh score at all three levels. So, like this team, you know, they got size, they got defense. Um, I’m interested to see what Trey Johnson can do. Um, with like a pretty probably big runway this year. Um, should be leading that second unit off the bench and having a lot of, um, reps, getting a lot of shots. Yeah. Ben, how do you think the Wizards are going to try to do things with this team? Because again, they brought in veteran guys with a young roster, but bringing in McCullum and Middleton, those guys are still good enough to start. At least McCollum still is. Like he I didn’t realize this looking at his numbers. He last season he averaged 21 points per game, meaning he has averaged 20 points per game in each of the last 10 seasons. So he’s still, you know, a very good score and he could even legend. He could even be a go. Shout out Cton, Ohio. Yeah, very true. Even he could be, you know, a go-to score still at times even though he’s now older in his career. So, how do you think the Wizards are going to kind of distribute things between letting the veterans play and allowing these youngsters to have a runway? Yeah, I mean I think these veterans will get a go and still put up some decent scoring numbers and McCollum the Middleton, but I definitely think, you know, McCollum Middleton understand that, you know, they’re trying to develop these young guys here. You know, I think they’ll really try to help mentor these young guys for the Wizards and push them to get better. I’m sure the Wiz will be really focused on the young guys, of course. And uh yeah, I definitely like the Trey Johnson draft pick for where, you know, the luck just bel for the Wizards. I think he could be a lifying score like what Nick said and the Wizards, you know, they really need to find that, you know, guy who could become that next electrifying score for them, could be that go-to guy for their future that could be like a superstar for them. And you know, to me, the the Wizards, man, I’m going to call it like four to five years from now, I think they’re going to be good than getting up to really good as a team. I, you know, I I they’re rebuild what they’re trying to do here. It’s kind of reminding me of like the Thunder back in like 2020, 2021. I I think the Wizards, you know, it’s going to take time with this rebuild. it seems like. But I think eventually, you know, things are going to just come together like four or five years and they’re going to be pretty good and be scary to the league. I don’t mind that comparison at all because if there I mean look these Wizards young players have a lot of promise and a lot of that is because of the defense with some of these players with Sar Koulibali um you know in in the front court potentially even I feel like AJ Johnson could be a good defensive player. It is. He’s motivated. Yeah. I mean, it will be, you know, who is going to be that offensive face of the future for this team. And it probably I don’t know if there’s one on the roster now. I think it will probably come in the draft going forward. But Joey, are you going to are you going to bring out a Cam Whitmore? I was just about to say I might be drinking what our good friend Jackson Goggland has been drinking over the last couple years. He’s been very high on Cam Whitmore. And this is kind of a perfect situation for him. I know he’s behind it’s a like on your redempt looks like he’s behind Kispert and Middleton, but come on. He’s got to have the best chance in that on that team outside of maybe CJ McCullum to break out as that 20 plus scorer in my at least in my opinion. He’s got the athletic ability like he’s shown spurts of it. But with this kind of young group where they’re going to be looking for a guy to come in off the bench to bring a spark, he could be that spark and then who knows what that could turn into. Hey, I think by the end of the season, he’s going to be the starter. I think he starting small for also because you know, you talk we’ve talked about teams cap situations. the Wizards. It’s very, very interesting because both Middleton and McCullum are expiring contracts this season, which is third or uh sorry, $64 million off the books this season. Uh which is a lot of money that the women have to play with. No one wants to go to play in DC. That’s the problem. Well, you never know with the way things are looking with this team. I Ace Bailey wanted to be drafted by the Wizards. You never know what player could want to go. I mean, honestly, I don’t know what player wouldn’t want to go to a situation like this where if it’s kind of like the Houston Rockets in a little bit of a way, although they don’t really have any prospects like a Jaylen Green, Thompson, just walk in the door and take over. Yeah, like Kevin Durant, he gets to walk into Houston and immediately be the number one option offensively. It’s kind of the position the Wizards could be in. Like I and who knows, maybe there’s a world where CJ McCullum ends up staying on this team because he could I feel like he’s going to be really good for the Wizards guards because they have a lot of promising guards. Um and like you said, Joey, not for Bob Carrington. I think he’s going to be huge for his development. I I completely agree. Um but overall for the Wizard, you know, I want to say too, yeah, they also got Malachi Brham as well in a deal with the Spurs as well. I forgot to mention that too. So they’ve done a good job of getting veterans and also these younger players that don’t that didn’t really fit on their current situations for with more with the Rockets brand on the Spurs. So definitely a lot of opportunity for for guys to come out and learn. But as far as their wins, probably not going to get a whole lot of wins as a result of it. They’re projected to win just 21 and a half games, which is second worst in the East. Uh only ahead of the Brooklyn Nets. So what do you guys think about 21 a half for the Wizards? Ben, let’s start off with you. That’s another trick you want. Yeah, I see them right around there. Uh just like barely over like not not a lot of wins really, but I mean I think they’ll win a few more games this year because those young guys take the leap look better and now CJ Middleton could just somehow be feeling it against great team I don’t know if they somehow steal a win. But I think this team will be looking, you know, to just, you know, develop the young guys, rebuild, and hope they can just land a top pick and their lottery odds are better in the next lottery. Yeah, that’s really the hope for this team is to get a high draft pick and with all the calf space hope that someone wants to come play in DC, which I, you know, I think there there is a low probability of that happening, but you never know. I think it’s it would be a very promising situation to go to. Uh Joey, what do you think for 21 and a half for DC? Well, I had Charlotte barely probably winning around that mark, so I had them way under. So, I’m going to go higher. I think the Wizards are going to hit at least the 25 mark. I think they’re closer to 25 to 27 personally. Nick, I’ll go over to I think Vegas has it wrong. Um Charlotte and Wizards I have I would have them flipped. I think the Wizards are going to Yeah. going to be higher than Charlotte. Um and that would put them around 24 25 26 wins. I don’t think they’ll get to I don’t think they’ll get over 25, but 21 seems a bit low. Th This is super The other thing is they want to be bad. Like they want the pick. So that’s the thing. They want to be bad and they’ll have the veterans there, but I don’t know how much like they’ll probably want to monitor McCullum and Middleton’s games played so that the young guys can play and also that they can, you know, eventually move on from them, you know, going forward potentially. So because of that, I think I’m still going under with the Wizards. I still think they’re going to lose a lot of games because I mean that I think them not having a true number one guy is probably going to matter in a lot of these games. I mean there’s just I don’t know how many favorable matchups they got, you know, across the board. So I’ll still go under, but I absolutely love what the Wizards are doing. I I agree with Ben. They have one of the pro most promising futures in the league in my opinion. Agreed. And with that, every team has been previewed and all the division previews are over. Yes, sir. Nice job, fellas. Hell heck yeah. Yes, sir. Which the paint boys win again. The Run the Paint Boys win again. And it’s time to rank the ball. You know who we’re picking out? Who we’re going to put above one another? We’ll have to find out. Yeah. Next. Yeah. Next week we’ll be doing our conference standings prediction. Sounds like we’re going to do the East on uh Tuesday and the West on Friday. So, it’s going to be a lot of fun. Definitely stay tuned for that because that’s going to be the real place where we’re going to plant our seeds for, you know, the best predictions here. Um so, yeah, we’ll see if we get anything crazy like, you know, for Jackson Gogglin last season, the Orlando Magic number one in the East. We’ll see if we get anything like that for uh but that is it for for us here. If you guys enjoyed this video, leave a like, subscribe for more NBA content. Hope you have a great rest of your day and we’ll catch you in the next one. Peace. Peace. Peace.
In this episode, the Runnin’ the Paint’ panel gives their thoughts on the Southeast division and forecast each teams’ season!
0:00 INTRO
5:55 ORLANDO MAGIC
17:23 ATLANTA HAWKS
30:34 MIAMI HEAT
42:07 CHARLOTTE HORNETS
51:20 WASHINGTON WIZARDS