For multiple teams in the Southeast, the 2017 offseason was more about retaining their own players than going out and making a major splash via trade or free agency. That was especially true for the reigning division champs in Washington.
Not only did the Wizards match Brooklyn’s four-year, maximum salary offer sheet for Otto Porter — the club also completed another four-year, maximum salary extension, locking up John Wall far beyond the remaining two years on his current contract. Washington also made other minor changes to its roster, adding Jodie Meeks and Tim Frazier, but the team’s major moves involved keeping its current core intact.
The same can be said about the Heat, who pursued Gordon Hayward, but missed out and quickly shifted their focus back to their own free agents, finalizing new long-term contracts with James Johnson and Dion Waiters. Miami also made the biggest investment in the division on an outside free agent, striking a four-year, $45.6MM deal with Kelly Olynyk, which could be worth even more via incentives.
The Hawks brought back Ersan Ilyasova and Mike Muscala on new deals, but opted not to re-sign their top free agent, letting Paul Millsap go to Denver. The move was one of several made by Atlanta that will re-shape the roster for 2017/18. Dewayne Dedmon, Miles Plumlee, and Marco Belinelli are among the newly-added Hawks, while Tim Hardaway, Dwight Howard, Thabo Sefolosha, and Mike Dunleavy are a few of the players who left Atlanta this summer.
The Hornets were on the other end of a major trade with Atlanta, landing Howard in exchange for Belinelli and Plumlee. The cap-strapped Hornets didn’t have a lot of flexibility to make upgrades, but the additions of Howard, Malik Monk, and Michael Carter-Williams are intriguing moves for a club that underperformed in 2016/17.
Meanwhile, the Magic didn’t make any big-money investments in free agency, but landed Jonathon Simmons, Shelvin Mack, Arron Afflalo, and Marreese Speights on affordable deals, and added a tantalizing athlete in Jonathan Isaac in the draft.
What do you think? Which Southeast team has had the best offseason so far? Vote in our poll and then head to the comment section to share your thoughts.
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I think Charlotte had the best offseason and is probably the closest to a complete roster in the division.
Orlando will continue to dwell in mediocrity but could take steps forward if their young players continue to develop.
Atlanta has Bazemore, Schroeder, and that’s about it. Neither of those two will make the playoffs.
Miami is going to be decent but health and strong seasons from vets will be key for them to make a playoff push.
Charlotte and Washington in my mind are very similar. Charlotte will need the 15-16 Batum to show up and MKG to become a more consistent scorer. Health will be important for Charlotte.
Miami did NOT have the best offseason. $50m to Olynyk is brutal, just like Noah and NY last year.
How is paying 4 yrs 72 mil for a 32 year old who can’t play anymore the same as 4 yrs 45.6 mil for a 26 year old who played solid minutes on the 1 seed?
There both white centers. That’s the only comparison I can think of
The Magic and Hornets had solid offseasons and the Heat and Wizards did a good job retaining their teams. The Hawks destroyed their team and didn’t really reload or add good assets so the tank job is in full effect. I predict they will be the worst team in the league next season
I’d have definitely said Miami before the Olynyk deal. I’d say with the combo of picks, and the trade that Charlotte made, it might be them. Orlando had a great offseason overall, but it doesnt really mean much right now….
Ultimately, I guess I still go with the Heat, as they retained most of their team, on good deals, that are movable. Hopefully, Olynyk can give them a dynamic they didn’t have for most of last season, with a shooter at that 5 spot. I think the defensive downgrade at that spot might be offset by the upgrade at the 4, with Winslow being healthy, and with his health, the spacing is probably more necessary. A Richardson extension probably clinches it for them
You’re still underrating him but I’ve talked about his game with you heaps so I’m not going to waste my time again and I’ll just talk about fit. Heat are always going to be an elite defensive team because the organisation preaches defense more than any other team. If Olynyk starts alongside Whiteside, Winslow, Waiters and Dragic that will be a better lineup defensively and offensively than last year. Winslow is better at defending sfs than Mcgruder and Olynyk is definitely a better defender than Babbit. Before you say Olynyk can’t defend 4s the east play a lot less small ball than the west. He’s more mobile than Kevin love and he starts every game for Cleveland at the 4. Offensively his screen setting, floor spacing, rebounding, passing and sneaky handle will help a whole lot. Think about it like this, babbit only literally does one thing better and that’s shoot but Olynyk is still a good shooter. Then when Whiteside sits we have a center we can play 5 out with and even though he’s not a shot blocker he competes and we have the luxury of been able to put 4 really good defenders around him to contain drives. Then offensively you must of saw how well dragic, waiters and Johnson got into the paint (Winslow is going to do the same thing but I’ll wait for him to prove it) imagine how many more easy baskets they will get when Olynyk screens for them then fades to the 3pt line and literally leaves the whole lane open. Olynyk 100% makes us better offensively and I believe the defensive drop will not be felt at all considering we started Babbit last year.
If you felt the need to type all that out this time, you didn’t read the full post, b/c I did acknowledge the dynamic with Olynyk offensively, and the upgrade from Babbit defensively
I know you did but you still said it was a bad deal
You’re still underrating him but I’ve talked about his game with you heaps so I’ll just talk about fit. Heat are always going to be an elite defensive team because the organisation preaches defense more than any other team. If Olynyk starts alongside Whiteside, Winslow, Waiters and Dragic that will be a better lineup defensively and offensively than last year. Winslow is better at defending sfs than Mcgruder and Olynyk is definitely a better defender than Babbit. Before you say Olynyk can’t defend 4s the east play a lot less small ball than the west. He’s more mobile than Kevin love and he starts every game for Cleveland at the 4. Offensively his screen setting, floor spacing, rebounding, passing and sneaky handle will help a whole lot. Think about it like this, babbit only literally does one thing better and that’s shoot but Olynyk is still a good shooter. Then when Whiteside sits we have a center we can play 5 out with which will give us a deadly offense. Dragic, Waiters and James Johnson (Winslow will be but I’ll let him prove it) were all elite at driving and getting into the paint last year and that was with Whiteside who doesn’t space the floor at all and is a pretty average screen setter. Now imagine Olynyk who spaces to the 3pt line and is a good screen setter setting picks and fading to the 3pt line how much space that will give our drivers. Also even though he’s not a shot blocker he competes and we have the luxury of been able to put 4 really good defenders around him.