2019-20 NBA Pre-season (Southeast Division)

Heat
Out:
Ryan Anderson, Hassan Whiteside, Josh Richardson, Yante Maten, Dwyane Wade, 2022 2nd rd pick, 2025 2nd rd pick, 2026 2nd rd pick, 2023 1st rd pick (top 14 protected)
Tough to lose that 1st rd pick but the rest are better off gone.

Re-signed:
Duncan Robinson (guaranteed final year of his contract; 1yr/$1m), Udonis Haslem (1yr/$2.6m), Derrick Jones Jr (team exercised option; 1yr), Kendrick Nunn (guaranteed final year; 1yr/$150k), Bam Adebayo (team exercised option; 2yr), coach Erik Spoelstra (multi-year extension)
Haslem is still around, huh? I've grown into the notion that sometimes coaches are more effective as players, that paying Haslem $5m to be a coach wouldn't be as effective as $2m to be a player, but I can't help thinking that whatever Haslem does it could be done outside of the salary cap. But I guess they must love him. I'm a big fan of Adebayo, think he's gonna have a big year. And Spoelstra is a great coach, more years is a great thing. The other dudes are reasonably priced.

In:
Jimmy Butler (4yr/$140m), Tyler Herro (4yr/$7.5m guaranteed), KZ Okpala (3yr/$4.2m), Chris Silva, Daryl Macon, Nuggets 2022 2nd rd pick
I think Butler is problematic but this looks to be the ideal spot for him, so hopefully he'll going back to just being a player; if so, the Heat could be really good this year. Herro looks like a stud, looks to fit nicely in that rotation. Okpala is a good value at that pick. Don't know Silva or Macon.

Over/Under (43.5): I'm going over (just barely)
I don't love this team but I think this division is kinda awful, so that alone should net the Heat a pile of W's, and they have a lot of trade options, so I think their flexibility will serve them well this season. If Butler keeps his head on, if Herro challenges for ROY, if Bam blows up, if Dragic has a killer walk year, then the Heat could really be great, even kinda dangerous in the playoffs. But that's a lot of ifs, so I think banking that they'll be good not great is much more reasonable.


Magic
Out:
Timofey Mozgov, Troy Caupain, Jerian Grant
Meh. Nothing to worry about on this side of the ledger.

Re-signed:
Nikola Vucevic (4yr/$100m), Terrence Ross (4yr/$54m), Khem Birch (2yr/$6m), Michaeal Carter-Williams (1yr), Jonathon Isaac (team exercised option; 2yr), Markelle Fultz (team exercised option; 2yr), Mo Bamba (team exercised option; 2yr)
Seems like a lot of money to spend on bringing back guys that got comfortably bounced in the first round last year, but there's a lot of talent here and if it's available to the Magic then they're probably wise to scoop it up (even if they gotta overpay). I kinda love Vucevic, he can be the anchor of a good team. Ross is a reliable veteran swingman. Birch is an underrated scorer down low. MCW can be useful off the bench. I've been skeptical of Isaac and Bamba but they'll play this year so we'll see what they can do. This season for the Magic is all about Fultz: if he can be anywhere close to what he was supposed to be then all of the sudden this looks like a really good team, with flexibility to make a deal.

In:
Al-Farouq Aminu (3yr/$29.2m)
Aminu's on-ball defense is among the best in the league, not a bad player to have around and very affordable, too.

2nd rd draftees, 2-way contracts, Exhibition
Josh Magette, Amile Jefferson
Not sure what depth these guys provide but they're there, so good for them.

Over/Under (41.5): I got them just under
If everything goes right for the Magic, they could be really good next year, they've got all the pieces to really surprise people. That said, it would be a surprise. So while I like them to finish 7th in the East, I don't foresee them going deep in the playoffs (but, again, a shock is on the table for them).


Hawks
Out:
Alex Poythress, Isaac Humphries, Justin Anderson, Taurean Prince, Miles Plumlee, Omari Spellman, Jaylen Adams, 2020 1st rd pick (top 10 protected), 2020 2nd rd pick, 2021 2nd rd pick, 2023 2nd rd pick
Prince and Spellman were nice young players but they were moved for better parts. The others are just others.

Re-signed:
Vince Carter (1yr/$2.6m), John Collins (team exercised option; 1yr), Trae Young (team exercised option; 1yr), Kevin Huerter (team exercised option; 1yr),
I'm cool with bringing back Vince for his farewell tour. As for Collins, Young, and Huerter, they're the future.

In:
Allen Crabbe, Bruno Fernando (3yr/$4.7m), Chandler Parsons, DeAndre Hunter (4yr/$14.5m guaranteed), Damian Jones, Jabari Parker (2y/$13m), Cam Reddish, Evan Turner, 2026 Warriors 2nd rd pick, 2020 Nets 1st rd pick (top 14 protected), Pelicans 2023 2nd rd pick (top 45 protected)
Hunter, Reddish and Fernando are three more rooks for the youth movement. Turner, Crabbe and Parsons will choke the salary cap but just for one year. Parker and Jones are solid vets that could look really good in this rotation.

2nd rd draftees, 2-way contracts, Exhibition
Brandon Goodwin, Charlie Brown
Don't know them (can neither confirm nor deny that Brown is in fact a clown).

Over/Under (33.5): I got them under
I'm a fan of youth movements so I'll be watching this squad. And while I think offensively they might take a real leap this season, I think defensively they're gonna suck pretty bad. This is try-out season for Denadre Bembry and Alex Len (and Jabari Parker, too, for that matter) and they'll get their chances. The future is looking good (and they have Brooklyn's top 15 protected pick coming, too) and next summer they'll have big money to spend (though next summer will not be nearly as exciting as this past summer was). One more year, Hawks fans, then you get start getting your hopes up.


Wizards
Out:
Trevor Ariza, Sam Dekker, Jeff Green, Jabari Parker, Tarik Phillip, Bobby Portis, Chasson Randle, Devin Robinson, Tomas Satoransky, Dwight Howard
That's a lot of names that feel like ought to have contributed more. Ariza was not a good fit for them, I still believe in Dekker (though clearly no one else does), Green is nice but not enough for the Wizards, Parker just didn't have it, Portis wasn't the right fit, Satorasnky is a tough loss for them, Howard was never gonna get it done in Washington. Lot of interesting names but the Wizards are better off without all of them (except maybe Satoransky).

Re-signed:
Thomas Bryant (3yr/$25m), Mo Wagner (team exercised option; 2yr), Troy Brown Jr (team exercised option; 2yr), Bradley Beal (extension; 3yr/$100m)
Signing Beal is a great move (and doesn't make him any less trade-able, by the way), they need him and Wall to make it happen--it's they're only hope. As for the others, well, I dunno, sure why not?

In:
CJ Miles, Davis Bertans, Isaac Bonga, Morittz Wagner, Ish Smith (2yr/$12m), Isaiah Thomas (1yr/$2.3m), Admiral Scofield (3yr/$4.2m), Justin Robinson (3yr/$4.2m), Chris Chiozza, Anzejs Pasecniks, 2022 Lakers 2nd rd pick
Thomas might be fun (or he might done), otherwise I'm not feeling much for these pick-ups. I think this team is brutally bad and no matter what they do, they will probably be pretty awful.

Over/Under (26.5): I got 'em way under
Yeah, this team is not good, not going to be good any time soon. Wall getting healthy and/or a big Beal trade bringing back a crazy haul is all they got to hope for.


Hornets
Out:
Frank Kaminsky, JP Macura, Jeremy Lamb, Kemba Walker, Shelvin Mack, Tony Parker, 2020 2nd rd pick
Yeah, losing all these guys should kill them, right? (Oh, wait, they weren't any good when they had all these guys)

Re-signed:
Willy Hernangomez (team guaranteed final year), Dwayne Bacon (team guaranteed final year)
I'm in on both of these guys, rooting for them to each have a good season.

Newly signed:
PJ Washington (2yr/$7.9m), Terry Rozier (3yr/$57m)
I can totally see PJ being the alpha dog of this team right away, he's big and tough and pretty good at everything on the court, this is a terrible situation for him to start his career but this team should offer him plenty of opportunity. Rozier...$57m...whooch....really? I'm not seeing it. Not seeing this guy as the playmaker that gets it done.

2nd rd draftees, 2-way contracts, Exhibition
Robert Franks, Caleb Martin, Cody Martin (3yr/$4.5m), Jalen McDaniels, Joe Chealey, Kobi Simmons
Curious to see if those Martin twins can get it going in the NBA.

Over/Under (23.5): aw, hell no! No way this team gets to 23 wins!
Yeah, this is not a good squad at all. And they're in with the Wizards and I still don't think they'll get any W's! Keep your eye on PJ Washington, Mikal Bridges and the Martin twins and just pass the time til the $45m worth of Williams, Biyombo and MKG finally become spendable again.

Draft Evaluation (Atlantic)

Wizards (#15 Oubre (trade), #49 White) Oubre is high risk/reward, they're hoping an Oubre/Porter platoon can replace Paul Pierce. They'd love to get decent cheap bench minutes down low out of White as he'll be cheap enough he might make the roster (if Summer League isn't a disaster). Wall, Beal, Webster, Gortat, Nene is the starting five. Humphries off the bench down low, Oubre and Porter off the bench on the wings, Sessions for PG. Solid enough for the East but not a lot of flexibility though there are still roster spots to fill. Does this team beat the Pacers or Hawks in the playoffs? Too early to say.

Celtics (#16 Rozier, #28 Hunter, #33 Mickey, #45 Thornton) Risk/reward kinda draft. Hunter might be a for-real scorer...or he might be utterly awful. Rozier might be a confident ballhandler and playmaker...or he might be overmatched at the next level. Mickey might be a nasty defender down low or a ball hawking rebounder...or he might be a career D-league. Thornton might be...I dunno who he is...but he might something other than what he's supposed to be. The Celtics kinda got stuck in the middle with this draft: they need to draft their stars, they can't count on free agency. Ainge has drafted well over the years and I think they did well again with this haul, but there aren't any stars in there, just another batch of nice role players. The Celtics must have a big trade this summer, we'll see what comes.

Nets (#23 Hollis-Jefferson (trade), #29 McCullough) McCullough is hurt, probably won't play this year. Hollis-Jefferson is expected to be an all-world on-ball defender but not much else. The Nets have to get cheaper, can't imagine they'll be any good at all this year (but I thought that last summer and they still made the playoffs). These picks are for the future, the cheaper, younger future.

Sixers (#3 Okafor, #35 Hernangomez, #37 Holmes, #47 Gudaitis, #58 Tokoto, #60 Mitrovic) I think Okafor and Nerlens can play together, if so expect Embiid to be available by the 2016 draft. I think all 3 of the 2nd round foreigners are for the future, and as for Holmes and Tokoto, they'll get a chance because the Sixers are still dedicated to sucking for one more year at least. This year is about finding out if Nerlens and Okafor make a good combo, if so then there is finally something to build around. Expect the Sixers to earn themselves another lottery pick next year, add in 1st rounders from the Heat (probably around #25 or so) and the Lakers (mid-teens, maybe lottery), and whatever they can get for Embiid (I'd think a top ten 2016, another 1st rounder 2017). I think next summer is the time the Sixers have targeted to make their splash in free agency (....or perhaps they'll never make that splash and just keep accumulating value in the form of draft picks rather than W's).

Knicks (#4 Porzingis, #19 Grant (trade)) I can understand the NYK faithful to be gunshy about another Euro wunderkind and, hey man, Phil would've rather been anywhere than #4 in this draft. But the buzz is the kid can play. Frankly the Knicks are more dangerous to his future than the other way around. I wish the kid well, his highlights are pretty sick and before you call him tiny, he's actually bigger and stronger than Anthony Davis. If he's good in New York, the Knicks will be building around him soon enough; if he's not, Utah Jazz might be up for a blockbuster trade.