SADLY 😢:5 NBA Southeast Division Make-or-Break Candidates

5 NBA Southeast Division Make-or-Break Candidates For 2023-24

Originally posted on Last Word On Sports
By Daniel Benjamin  |  Last updated 11/8/23

The Miami Heat has been carrying the NBA Southeast division banner on their shoulder and, for that matter, the entire Eastern Conference since 2010.

During these 13 years, the Heat have won 662 games — the second most in the NBA — and two NBA championships in six Finals appearances. The Heats also have claimed the nine divisional crowns.

However, Miami’s domination may be coming to an end. While it’s early, the Heat are 2-4 on the season. More significantly, the Orlando Magic looks like one of the NBA’s up-and-coming teams. Moreover, the Atlanta Hawks are the early season favorites to win the division.

5 NBA make-or-break candidates from the Southeast Division in the 2023 NBA season

Garrison Matthews, Atlanta Hawks
Garrison Matthews has been a solid end-of-the-bench NBA player over the last few years. The 27-year-old wing has averaged 10 minutes a game over 60 appearances a year in the previous three seasons. He’s a 3-point specialist who averages 1.5 treys, shooting them at a 36.7% clip.

However, Mathews is a below-average defender. He has only played nine games, including none this season, since coming to the Hawks at last year’s trade deadline. His 2024-25 salary is guaranteed on July 28. 2023.

​

James Bouknight, Charlotte Hornets
James Bouknight has not played this season as he’s still recovering from arthroscopic surgery. Bouknight has struggled in his first two campaigns, compiling a .353/.331/.770 shooting slash line in 65 appearances. The 23-year-old guard, the No. 11 overall pick in 2021, had his 2024-25 club option declined by the Hornets.

​

Haywood Highsmith, Miami Heat
Haywood Highsmith is an undrafted Division II player who has worked hard to get his shot in the NBA.

The 6-7 forward took advantage of all the Heat’s injuries last year and played in a career-high 54 games, including 11 starts. While Highsmith doesn’t shoot it well, he does all the little things. He’s a decent defender and battles on the defensive boards.

However, the 27-year-old should get every opportunity to show he belongs in the league this year. After missing Miami’s first four games, Highsmith had a solid debut against Brooklyn on Nov. 1 and started two of those contests at small forward.

Highsmith averages 7.3 points, with 12 of his 22 total points coming from the 3-point line, on 53.3% shooting from the field and 50% from the 3-point line.  Highsmith is slated to be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

​Chuma Okeke, Orlando Magic
Chuma Okeke, the 16th overall pick of the Magic in 2019, is a versatile athletic defender with an excellent first couple of seasons. However, he doesn’t shoot it well.

Okeke only appeared 27 games a year ago and has seen just 12 minutes of action over three appearances this season. He will be a restricted free agent this offseason.

Goga Bitadze, Orlando Magic

The 6-11, 24-year-old big man has been a third-string center since being selected with the 18th overall pick in 2019.

Goga Bitadze is excellent around the rim on both ends of the court and is a fabulous rebounder. He also finishes well at the hoop and is an elite shot-blocker. Bitadze will be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason.

With Wendell Carter Jr. out for three-plus weeks with a broken hand, Bitadze will get to show off his mettle. Since Carter went out with the injury, Bitadze has averaged 8.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks while shooting 54.5% from the field in two starts.

This article first appeared on Last Word On Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads:

76ers’ Joel Embiid equals the great Wilt Chamberlain in statement win over Celtics

NBA

James Harden sounds off on Sixers’ Tyrese Maxey following trade to Clippers

While James Harden left no doubt in anyone’s mind that he had some bad blood with Philadelphia 76ers president Daryl Morey, it appears to be virtually all love between the guard and his former teammates. Following the trade which sent Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers, the 10-time NBA All-Star was asked about one player specifically — Tyrese Maxey, and he gave a glowing review. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Gina Mizell revealed the interesting bit the 34-year-old said about Maxey. “I can only expect great things from Tyrese, just because of the amount of work I know he puts in,” Harden said Sunday afternoon from the Clippers’ team hotel in Manhattan. “He’s in the gym. He loves it, so the results are going to happen for him in a great way. I’m excited for him. “Hopefully, he can have an opportunity to make an All-Star team and really show his game. I’m definitely excited for his growth and his maturity.” The comments come after Maxey gave his own extremely positive review of Harden, whom he credited with helping to improve his court vision and the fact that the former Sixers guard took him “under his wing.” “I texted [Harden] telling him I love him and I appreciate him … One thing that he really instilled in me is confidence. I’ve always been a confident person, but he made me even more confident than I already was … He took me under his wing, taught me a lot of things,” Maxey told reporters. The debate over how Harden will fit with his new team has been an ongoing one, and it’s bound to draw no shortage of attention.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. says goodbye to the Diamondbacks on Instagram

MLB

Phillies’ decision on Bryce Harper will have ripple effect on offseason

Philadelphia Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters, including Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe, that Bryce Harper will play first base going forward. Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post adds that free agent Rhys Hoskins has been informed of the decision with the position player mix pretty set. Dombrowski added that the club sees Kyle Schwarber as its everyday designated hitter, per Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. Though Harper could conceivably split his time between first and the outfielder, Dombrowski says he wanted Harper to be “in a position where he would play one or the other,” per Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Harper, 31, had just two appearances at first base in the first decade of his career, but recent circumstances forced a change. In May 2022, he was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. That meant he was unable to throw, though the issue didn’t prevent him from hitting. The Phils kept him in the designated hitter slot for the rest of that campaign as Harper’s excellence at the plate helped them reach the World Series. After they were defeated by the Houston Astros, Harper finally went under the knife, undergoing Tommy John surgery in November of last year. As he was working his way back to health, long-time first baseman Rhys Hoskins torn the ACL in his left knee during a spring-training game, an ailment that eventually prevented him from appearing at any point in the 2023 season. Harper went on to beat all projections for his post-surgery recovery and was able to be reinstated by early May, barely five months after his operation. He was limited to designated-hitter duties initially but was eventually cleared to take the field. Since a first baseman is rarely required to throw at maximum effort, the club put him at that position as opposed to putting him back in his typical right field spot, which would have required more throws at maximum effort. The Phils used a combination of Alec Bohm, Darick Hall, Kody Clemens and Drew Ellis to cover the spot in the first half of the season, but that group largely ceded to Harper in the second half of the campaign. He made his first start at first base on July 21 and eventually made 36 appearances in total during the regular season, then stayed there for the club’s 13 playoff games. Advanced defensive metrics generally considered him to be around league average, though in a fairly small sample of work. Having Harper at that spot freed up the club to move Schwarber, who is considered a poor defender, from left field to DH on most nights. The Phils then split the outfield duties between Nick Castellanos, Brandon Marsh, Johan Rojas, Cristian Pache and Jake Cave. After the season, it was an open question as to where Harper would be slotted going forward. By the time the 2024 campaign rolled around, he presumably would have been far enough from his surgery to head back to the grass. But with Schwarber and those five outfielders all still on the roster next year, that would have further crowded things out there, forcing the club to perhaps trade someone while also perhaps looking to external first base options. But the club will stick with Harper at first, which doesn’t leave a space for Hoskins, who is now a free agent. It seems Dombrowski did him the courtesy of letting him know so that he can spend the winter looking elsewhere for his next gig. He hit 148 home runs for the Phillies from 2017 to 2022 but it seems his next homer will be hit in a different uniform. MLBTR recently ranked Hoskins No. 26 on our list of the top 50 free agents, predicting a pillow contract of two years and $36M. This also could have ramifications for Bohm and the third base market. He hasn’t received strong grades for his glovework at the hot corner, which made the Phils a speculative fit to add a player there and move Bohm over to cover first, as he did when Hoskins and Harper were both unavailable. But if Harper is going to be implanted at first, it suggests the club feels fairly confident about Bohm at third. They could always sign someone like Matt Chapman and then make Bohm available in trades but the roster fit isn’t as clean with this development. It would appear then that the club will be primarily focused on pitching for the rest of the winter, since the position player corps is considered to be in good shape. Aaron Nola