2012 Southeast Division Preview

For our final eastern conference division, we've got two older franchises, two that are pretty young, and one that's practically an infant... Guess which ones will be battling it out for the division title?




Atlanta Hawks
PG - (1968) Lenny Wilkens - 90.9 ($6.990)
SG - (1991) Dominique Wilkins - 228.6 ($8.254)
SF - (1970) Bill Bridges - 67.9 ($8.191)
PF - (1962) Bob Pettit - 468.2 ($9.155)
C - (2000) Dikembe Mutombo - 64.5 ($7.985)


Bench:
(1992) Kevin Willis - 44.4 ($7.665)
(1966) Zelmo Beaty - 59.0 ($7.456)
(2008) Joe Johnson - 63.3 ($7.444)
(1960) Cliff Hagan - 177.2 ($7.276)
(1983) Dan Roundfield - 71.7 ($7.179)
(1970) Lou Hudson - 120.0 ($6.950)
(1977) John Drew - 53.1 ($6.336)


Disqualified Players:
(1973) Pete Maravich - 45.6 ($6.810) higher score with Jazz
(1959) Slater Martin - 54.5 ($4.192) higher score with Lakers


Okay, so I had to get a bit creative here. Bill Bridges is, by no means, a small forward, but he, Pettit, and Mutombo (along with Wilkins) had three of the top four individual seasons on the team. And there's really only two actual guards on this: Wilkens and Johnson, and neither really had good "best" seasons. I suppose I could've gone Wilkens, Johnson, Wilkins, Pettit and Bridges/Mutombo... but I think the starting lineup as it is gives the team it's best chance at winning.

Charlotte Bobcats
PG - (2009) Raymond Felton - 9.5 ($6.243)
SG - (2010) Stephen Jackson - 3.5 ($6.339)
SF - (2008) Jason Richardson - 4.3 ($7.626)
PF - (2010) Gerald Wallace - 34.0 ($8.455)
C - (2009) Emeka Okafor - 13.1 ($6.778)


Bench:
(2010) Boris Diaw - 7.5 ($5.473)
(2011) D.J. Augustin - 7.1 ($5.486)
(2005) Primoz Brezec - 5.0 ($4.716)
(2006) Brevin Knight - 5.6 ($4.628)
(2005) Jason Hart - 2.4 ($3.795)
(2007) Matt Carroll - 5.9 ($3.685)
(2008) Nazr Mohammed - 3.9 ($2.925)


And I had to get a little creative here again. Gerald Wallace is definitely not a power forward. But, come on, who else is going to start for this team? Nobody. Absolutely nobody. Well, maybe Diaw, but Wallace is significantly better than him. But I do like this starting lineup. It looks kinda feisty. I don't think they'll make the playoffs, but I could see some upsets from these guys.

Miami Heat
PG - (1997) Tim Hardaway - 100.1 ($7.442)
SG - (2009) Dwyane Wade - 259.0 ($9.450)
SF - (2002) Eddie Jones - 24.5 ($7.453)
PF - (1992) Grant Long - 15.8 ($6.841)
C - (1999) Alonzo Mourning - 163.9 ($8.139)


Bench:
(1992) Rony Seikaly - 12.6 ($6.569)
(2001) Brian Grant - 13.1 ($6.204)
(2005) Udonis Haslem - 30.0 ($5.988)
(1998) Voshon Lenard - 10.7 ($5.053)
(1993) Bimbo Coles - 10.0 ($4.157)
(2007) James Posey - 15.2 ($3.861)
(2006) Jason Williams - 12.1 ($3.562)


Disqualified Players:
(2011) LeBron James - 65.4 ($9.333) higher score with Cavaliers
(2001) Anthony Mason - 11.1 ($7.879) higher score with Hornets
(2005) Shaquille O'Neal - 104.5 ($7.194) higher score with Lakers
(1995) Glen Rice - 20.1 ($7.107) higher score with Hornets
(2011) Chris Bosh - 18.9 ($6.876) higher score with Raptors
(1999) P.J. Brown - 15.1 ($5.960) higher score with Hornets
(1999) Dan Majerle - 12.5 ($4.904) higher score with Suns


The Heat have, by far, the most disqualified players because they have higher scores with other teams. Which just further justifies me calling them the Miami Mercenaries from time to time. But they've still got a pretty good starting lineup. Not so much with the bench, but four of the five starters are solid.

Orlando Magic
PG - (1996) Anfernee Hardaway - 121.6 ($8.386)
SG - (2008) Hedo Turkoglu - 23.3 ($7.051)
SF - (2003) Tracy McGrady - 136.2 ($8.438)
PF - (1998) Bo Outlaw - 13.2 ($6.896)
C - (2008) Dwight Howard - 223.0 ($9.581)


Bench:
(1993) Nick Anderson - 31.5 ($6.800)
(1996) Dennis Scott - 17.0 ($6.785)
(1993) Scott Skiles - 12.3 ($6.161)
(2001) Darrell Armstrong - 20.1 ($6.108)
(2011) Jameer Nelson - 29.7 ($4.565)
(2010) J.J. Redick - 10.5 ($3.522)
(2010) Mickael Pietrus - 9.7 ($3.173)


Disqualified Players:
(1994) Shaquille O'Neal - 120.8 ($10.115) higher score with Lakers
(2008) Rashard Lewis - 21.6 ($7.249) higher score with Thunder
(1998) Horace Grant - 29.0 ($6.033) higher score with Bulls
(2005) Grant Hill - 20.6 ($5.280) higher score with Pistons


So, this team has like no size whatsoever. They're a lot like the Bucks, except the Magic actually have a couple point guards, too. Those match-ups should be interesting.

Washington Wizards
PG - (2006) Gilbert Arenas - 67.2 ($8.668)
SG - (1968) Earl Monroe - 66.0 ($6.414)
SF - (1974) Elvin Hayes - 261.3 ($9.409)
PF - (1970) Wes Unseld - 221.6 ($8.023)
C - (1963) Walt Bellamy - 80.3 ($9.668)


Bench:
(2008) Antawn Jamison - 38.6 ($7.595)
(1972) Archie Clark - 35.2 ($7.197)
(1970) Gus Johnson - 105.4 ($7.035)
(1997) Rod Strickland - 36.5 ($6.753)
(1976) Phil Chenier - 74.0 ($6.752)
(1972) Jack Marin - 38.9 ($6.416)
(1965) Don Ohl - 33.4 ($5.136)


Disqualified Players:
(1988) Moses Malone - 38.9 ($7.293) higher score with Rockets
(1979) Bob Dandridge - 65.0 ($6.294) higher score with Bucks


And the Wizards are kind of the opposite of the Bucks/Magic - lots of size, and a bit lacking in the guard positions. Not terribly lacking, mind you, but almost all of their best players are big men. So, I did some shuffling (like with the Hawks) and put Elvin Hayes at SF so I could put both Bellamy and Unseld in at PF and C.