2023-24 NBA Christmas Grades: Southeast Division
Merry Christmas, everyone!
The NBA Christmas games have been run and won and every team is now give or take a third of their way through their respective schedules. So let’s see what grades every NBA team received for Christmas from the Jolly Fat Man (Santa, to be clear, not Jerome James).
We’ve already taken a look at the Atlantic, Northwest, Central and Southwest Divisions so we will examine the South East Division today. Keep an eye on the Vendetta Sports Media socials as we will be releasing the last of our grades tomorrow.
(All numbers come via Basketball Reference unless otherwise stated)
Atlanta Hawks – C-:
The numbers: 12-18 record, 5th in offense, 27th in defense, 20th in Net Rating
That run to the conference finals seems like a lifetime ago. No matter what the Hawks try, they continue to be an average basketball side.
Offensively, the Hawks remain elite. Frankly, any team that rolls out Trae Young will be. Despite an early-season shooting slump his wonderful playmaking has kept the Hawks humming at that end of the floor.
Defensively, the Hawks remain turgid. Frankly, any team that rolls out Trae Young will be. They give up the most fastbreak points in the entire league, even more than Milwaukee, and can’t do a thing to stop dribble penetration.
The Hawks do have an excellent top eight on paper, though that does count the platoon arrangement between Onyeka Okongwu and Clint Capela as two people; moving one of them remains a priority. Jalen Johnson was starting to emerge as a legitimate player before injury struck. His pliability makes a lot of line-ups work for coach Quin Snyder. It’s just the Hawks’ luck that they lost De’Andre Hunter shortly after Johnson returned to the team.
Charlotte Hornets – D-:
The numbers: 7-21 record, 26th in offense, 29th in defense, 28th in Net Rating
Given the negativity that surrounds them at the moment, it wouldn’t be a surprise if most people thought that the Detroit Pistons held the longest active playoff drought in the NBA. But no, that belongs to the Hornets (2016, since you asked so nicely).
Yes, they’ve had to cope with injuries, but a team that contains LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges, Terry Rozier and Gordon Hayward shouldn’t be a bottom-five club at both ends of the floor. This is, frankly, an awful basketball team. Some young teams can, despite on-court difficulties, win hearts and minds by employing a band of young, likable upstarts. Charlotte napalmed that path when they chose to reinstate Miles Bridges.
It’s not all Christmas doom and gloom, though. Rookie Brandon Miller looks like the right selection at pick two. Mark Williams looks like a very good prospect at centre. LaMelo, if his ankles prove more durable than his brother’s knee, is an expert orchestrator.
Miami Heat – B:
The numbers: 18-12 record, 15th in offense, 13th in defense, 12th in Net Rating
Miami’s entire off-season was geared around getting Damian Lillard aboard, a plan that involved renouncing much of the team’s depth. Whilst that didn’t work, the Heat have, as always, found a way to land on their feet. Duncan Robinson has been revitalised this season, old flame Josh Richardson has proven a handy pickup and even pensioner Kyle Lowry has had his moments.
The Heat’s biggest addition, however, has been the rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr, who is straight-out balling right now. With Tyler Herro struggling with injury and Jimmy Butler getting his usual scheduled rest days, Jaquez has stepped in seamlessly to average 13.7 points with a little bit of everything sprinkled on top.
The Heat are currently sitting fourth in the east. Considering they give exactly zero fucks about regular season seeding, this is just about perfect for this crew.
Orlando Magic – A:
The numbers: 18-12 record, 23rd in offense, 4th in defense, 11th in Net Rating
Every season there is a team that takes an unexpected leap and this season it’s the Orlando Magic.
I covered the Magic’s rise in some detail on the latest edition of The Point, so feel free to take a brief divergence there for a deep dive. I’ll meet you back here…
Hey! Great to have you back.
Whilst their defense has tailed off a touch in the lead-up to Christmas, we have surely seen enough to know that this is at worst a top-10 defense. Offensively, Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero are skilful battering rams who power the Magic’s league-leading rim attack – they lead the league in shot attempts in the restricted area at 32.8 per game.
Shooting is an issue, so it’s been interesting to see what sophomore forward Caleb Houstan has been able to do with the extra burn afforded him by Joe Ingles injury. If he can capitalise similarly to how Jalen Suggs has benefitted from Markelle Fultz’s absence, then that is a major issue solved for the Magic.
Washington Wizards – F:
The numbers: 5-25 record, 25th in offense, 30th in defense, 27th in Net Rating
The Wizards are terrible. Unlike the Detroit Pistons, they don’t contain a raft of young talent searching for an identity. Unlike the San Antonio Spurs, they don’t have a potentially generational alien for us to gawk at. Nope, these Wizards are just sad.
Kyle Kuzma is doing whatever the hell pops into his mind, clearly infected by his proximity to Jordan Poole. The former Warrior is clearly a talent, but acts the fool far too often to be relied upon. The hope for him is that he can get out of this clown show and develop into a solid rotation player, a la former Wizard JaVale McGee.
Let’s hope the rot doesn’t spread to Bilal Coulibaly. The 19-year-old Frenchman is the best rookie to play for the Wiz since Bradley Beal and a sharp improvement on some of the team’s recent lottery selections (with apologies to Corey Kispert, who has shown a bit this season).
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