By Jonah Drew

Atlanta Hawks: 32-50

The Atlanta Hawks have been on a steady decline ever since their eastern conference finals run back in 2021. They have been shuffling assortments of players to put around Trae Young and thus far, nothing has clicked. Unfortunately, I don’t think this is the year that the stars align in Atlanta. I am a believer in Trae Young, I believe the discourse around him has gone way too far. He is being completely disrespected, is he a pretty bad defender? Yes he is. However, he is an offensive hub who can create quality shots for both himself and his teammates better than just about anybody. Jalen Johnson was one of the more impressive breakouts last season, I love his long term outlook. The hawks also have a collection of young pieces with potential to blossom into high impact role players. This list of course includes #1 pick Zaccharie Rissacher, along with Dyson Daniels and Kobe Bufkin. Expect Trae to will this team to an above average offense but not much more than that. The defense could be really bad, they were 27th in DRTG last season and they lost Dejounte Murray, who even though he is a very overrated defender, is still better than whatever they will have at the 2. The Hawks have been, and will continue to be, mediocre.

Charlotte Hornets: 35-47

Weirdly, I actually think that the Charlotte Hornets are one of, if not the biggest riser in all of the NBA in 2025. It all starts with Lamelo Ball, for all the nonsense he comes with, he is actually an extremely impactful basketball player. He is an elite playmaker, probably the best creative passer in basketball. While he does lack effort on the defensive end at times, he is still a great defensive playmaker. Brandon Miller is a budding star, he showed flashes of being special in his rookie season. If Wemby didn’t exist, I have a feeling we would hear a whole lot more about Brandon Miller. Miles Bridges,…I will say this and only this, off the court: I do NOT like Miles Bridges, on the court: he’s a darn good basketball player. Mark Williams and Nick Richards is probably my personal favorite center tandem in hoops. Williams is supremely skilled offensively and Nick Richards is supremely gifted defensively, while both can more than hold their own on the other side of the floor. They also have a nice group of ancillary pieces who could be effective in spurts like Tre Mann, Grant Williams, and newly acquired Josh Green. This underrated roster along with what I believe to be a culture shifter in new coach, Charles Lee, the Hornets could surprise some people and be scrappy for the first time in a long time.

Miami Heat: 47-35

Much has been made of the “Heat Culture” but in all honesty it confuses me. Yes, they do massively over perform in the playoffs year in and year out. However, with this big of a sample size, are they over performing in the playoffs, or potentially just taking it slightly easy in the regular season? All this to say, the Heat do have a very strong roster, the kind of team that could be a force to be reckoned with ALL SEASON LONG. Jimmy and Bam are what they are, they have their limitations but at the end of the day most teams would kill to have that 1-2 punch, especially defensively. Tyler Herro missed time last year but with him healthy their 21st ranked offense should take a sizable leap. Terry Rozier was also a significant addition last season. We saw Jaime Jaquez be an absolute steal last year and I believe ole’ Pat Riley did it again, snagging Kel’el Ware at 15 to be the backup 5 and even play with Bam at times. This team is very legit, and with Coach Spo at the helm, the Heat are scary.

Orlando Magic: 50-32

Orlando Magic, Orlando Magic, oh, oh, oh, oh,. I expect to hear that catchy tune 50+ times this year for a multitude of reasons. Starting, with the ABSURD defensive personnel on this team. Starting in the backcourt, Jalen Suggs and KCP is easily the best defensive backcourt in basketball(Outside of Boston of course), both are top 7 point of attack defenders. Credit Coach Mosley because his 2 young stars, Paolo and Franz are both high effort, high impact defenders. This was the second ranked defense last year and I believe that to be the floor for 2025. Offensively, Jalen Suggs development from beyond the arc was key, shooting nearly 40% from deep. I hope to see Franz take that same leap, because that would really take him to an entirely new level. Paolo also has a ways to go in terms of offensive polish. Young guys like Anthony Black and Trysten Da Silva can also be winning players in 2025 and beyond. The Magic were the 4 seed in the east for a reason last year, this is a franchise on the rise.

Washington Wizards: 13-69

Wow, the Washington Wizards are going to be REALLY freakin’ bad this year and it’s just really starting to hit me. As odd as this may sound I believe they lost their 2 most winning, impactful players last year in Deni Avdija and Tyus Jones. I expect both to thrive in Portland and Phoenix respectively. Jordan Poole and Kyle Kuzma as your go-to guys is frankly, laughable. Both are extremely inefficient and are absolutely black holes at times. Rookies Alex Sarr and Bub Carrington both have long term potential but are 2 of the younger players in the NBA. Bub though could make an impact as a secondary scorer and Sarr will make his presence felt defensively. I can dress it up as nice as I want, but this could get real ugly, real fast.

Sources

Basketball Index

Basketball Reference

ESPN

Statmuse