Southeast Notes: Plumlee, Waiters, Brooks

Though the size of his contract may skew fans’ perceptions of their newly acquired center, Miles Plumlee performed admirably in his Hornets debut Saturday, writes Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. So long as realistic expectations are applied, it’s hard to knock what the big man brings to the table.

Plumlee arrived in Charlotte earlier this week after a trade between the Hornets and Bucks and will step into the rotation immediately as a reliable low-post presence capable of defending the pick-and-roll. As well, Bonnell notes, he’ll provide a badly needed source of physicality for head coach Steve Clifford.

The caveat with Plumlee arriving mid-season after playing sparsely in Milwaukee is that he’ll have to play himself back into game shape. According to Bonnell, Plumlee mentioned this to Clifford upon his arrival with his new team. Between November 25 and January 20, a healthy Plumlee played double-digits just one time in 27 games.

There’s more out of the Southeast:

• It took a while but Erik Spoelstra and Dion Waiters finally connected in such a way that the two-guard’s game could flourish,” writes Tom D’Angelo of the Palm Beach Post. “It’s good bumping heads. It’s not anything bad,” Waiters said. “It’s like, ‘I’m challenging you. You can do more. Don’t settle for that‘”.
• Credit a strong relationship between John Wall and head coach Scott Brooks as one of the main reasons why the Wizards have improved so much this season, writes Michael Lee of the Vertical. In the summer, Brooks visited Wall in the hospital following his knee surgery. “I told John, ‘You’re a three-time All-Star, you can take it one or two ways: You could say, ‘I’ve arrived in this league and I’m comfortable in this league.’ Or you can take the approach that ‘I want to get better.’ And I think he’s done a great job of taking that approach of getting better. I think he can be a top-five player in this league every year.” Currently Washington sits third in the East, 10 games above .500 at 30-20. Last year they missed out on the postseason with a 41-41 record.
• Despite their bold transactions over the summer, the Magic have struggled to position themselves as contenders in the Eastern Conference. One of those offseason acquisitions, Serge Ibaka, has a particular approach to blocking out the noise inherent with the pending trade deadline in order to focus on turning things around. “I just delete my social media and focus on basketball. That’s it. I don’t read nothing,” Ibaka tells John Denton of the team’s official website. “[Trade talks] are nothing I can control“. The last time we checked in with the Magic, it was said that the club may be overvaluing its trade assets.