The Orlando Magic have an air of confidence about them this preseason.
This is not the same young team experiencing winning for the first time. They know how to walk the walk of the playoffs. And while they have not done it over multiple years, they have the confidence they are going to the playoffs for years to come.
More than that, this young team likely believes they will be hanging more banners. They hung one over the summer with a new Southeast Division banner hanging with the others at the AdventHealth Training Center.
Hopefully, they will win so much that each year does not need an individual banner in the AdventHealth Training Center because they need room for other banners.
The 2024 Southeast Division championship banner may not be the one they ultimately want. But even Paolo Banchero had to acknowledge it was good seeing that representation of their accomplishments hanging in the practice facility.
The Magic have bigger ambitions than winning another division title, but winning a second straight division title—something the team has not done since the 2009 and 2010 seasons—is definitely part of the journey this team wants to be on.
The Southeast Division might be considered the weakest division in the NBA. It has a pair of teams not expected to compete for the Playoffs and two veteran teams trying to reconfigure themselves. And the Magic themselves are not yet established as a perennial playoff team even if that is where they are headed.
The Magic play only 16 games against teams within their division. But unlike the other teams, they know they will get at least four games against the four other teams in the Southeast. And the Magic should not sleep on their potential to cause chaos.
The Magic are the clear favorites to win the Southeast Division again. But they have plenty to watch out for as they try navigating their way back to the top.
5. Brandon Miller, Charlotte Hornets
Orlando Magic fans know all too well the danger that Brandon Miller presents. And with how much attention was placed on Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama, Brandon Miller got lost in the shuffle among the top rookies last year.
Make no mistake about it, Miller looked like he was a player and a future All-Star as he began to figure things out last year. Again, the Magic know that all too well.
In one of the most gut-wrenching and frustrating losses from last year, Miller scored 32 points on 5-for-6 3-point shooting in the Hornets' stunning April win over the Magic. That was a loss that set the table for a frantic final week of the season for Orlando.
That game was not isolated last year. Miller averaged 18.5 points per game and shot 35.5 percent from three after the All-Star Break as his workload started to grow.
Against the Magic last year, Miller averaged 22.8 points per game, also putting in games of 21, 18 and 20 points. Most of those happened early in the season as he got his footing in the league.
Everyone is now expecting big things from Miller in his second season. And the Hornets are a quiet team to keep an eye on in the Eastern Conference. They can play better than their record (for reasons that will be come clear in a later slide).
Miller is one of the big wild cards in the league. And he has future All-Star written all over him.
With the way the Southeast is developing, the future battle might be between the Magic and the Hornets if they are not careful. Miller is a big piece of the future in the Eastern Conference.
4. Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat
There is still no sleeping on the Miami Heat in the Southeast Division. Everyone in the Eastern Conference will believe the Heat are dead when they are buried in the ground. Or in last place in the division.
The Heat have played without homecourt advantage in the playoffs in the last two years with a finals appearance coming as the 8-seed two years ago. They have been a regular in the Play-In Tournament and seem set to head that way again.
Still, they are the Heat. The Orlando Magic have had their issues with them too, losing three of the four games against them last year including two in Miami where both teams were down many key players.
Toppling the Heat from atop the division will not be easy. Setting a new reign will not happen without a fight.
The Heat are not going anywhere even with an uncertain future with Jimmy Butler entering a contract year. That is because Bam Adebayo still exists.
Adebayo has somehow become one of the most underrated players in the league. He makes sure everyone remembers he does not get enough credit for being one of the best and most versatile defenders in the league.
Adebayo averaged 19.3 points per game and 10.4 rebounds per game last year. He averaged 18.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game in four games against the Magic last year. That hints at his overall versatility.
The Heat are going to lean into that not only for this year but for their future. They are hoping he can add a more consistent three-point shot to his game to make him even more versatile. But he is someone the Heat can run their entire offense through and count on for good decisions, in addition to all-defensive-team-level defense.
The Magic have locked themselves in at center with Wendell Carter with that new extension he signed. Adebayo is what the Magic hope Carter can mimic. And Adebayo is someone who could be due for a big season.
And a big season from Adebayo could undo the Magic's hopes of winning the Southeast Division.
3. LaMelo Ball, Charlotte Hornets
It can be easy to forget how good LaMelo Ball can make a team. The Charlotte Hornets have not made the Playoffs since 2016. But they were in the mix, making the Play-In Tournament in 2021 and 2022 under James Borrego.
That is when Ball was at the peak of his powers. Before injuries derailed him, limiting him to 36 and 22 games in the last two seasons. It is impossible to play when you are missing your best player.
And it was an absence too great to overcome for a Hornets team dealing with injuries to veterans Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier, and having moved on from both last season.
Ball and his fast-paced, break-neck playstyle is the Hornets' identity. And because he has played in only 58 games the last two seasons, it is easy to forget just what that looks and feels like. Ball makes a major impact on the game.
He is like Tyrese Haliburton. He forces his team to play faster and he creates advantages simply with the speed he plays.
Ball just has to make his way to the floor and stay healthy.
In his 22 games last year, he averaged 23.9 points per game and 8.0 assists per game while shooting 35.5 percent from three on 9.0 attempts per game. He may need to learn more when to take over or not, but Ball is a player defenses have to be focused on, and they can typically do very little with.
Ball scored seven points in 15 minutes in his lone game against the Orlando Magic last year. He has oddly struggled against the Magic in his career with 18.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game in 10 matchups.
But even that hints at his threat as a playmaker and scorer. That is what Ball brings to the table for the Hornets. And Charlotte will trust him with the ball in his hands.
The Hornets are probably not ready to take the leap. But with an All-Star-level talent in Ball, they should remain a dark horse to stay in the Play-In chase. And that means they will not be an easy out by any means.
2. Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks
If the Orlando Magic should at least be aware of the impact a player like LaMelo Ball can make on a young Charlotte Hornets team, they need to be fully aware of what a player like Trae Young can do. Because unlike Ball and the Hornets, Young and the Atlanta Hawks have done everything.
Atlanta is expected to take a step back this year after trading Dejounte Murray for some younger players and draft picks. Considering the team's tumble down the standings after their surprising trip to the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals, the Hawks were trying to push their chips in. They ended up with three straight appearances in the Play-In Tournament.
The Hawks are staring that down again. But a lot of the reason they are even still in the mix is not because of the top overall pick, Zaccharie Risacher. It is because of Young.
Young is still a player who demands a lot of attention. He is a star in every sense of the word, even if there are not always enough spaces on the All-Star team for him.
Even in a supposed down year, Young averaged 25.7 points and 10.8 assists per game while shooting 37.3 percent from three. Against the Magic last year, he averaged 30.0 points and 9.7 assists per game in three games.
In other words, Dejounte Murray may have had the hero moments, including a game-winner in the game that Trae Young did not play, but Young was the heartbeat that kept the Hawks going last year. And he is still the most dangerous player on the court.
Young is someone that requires the full attention of any defense. Even an elite defense like the Magic's. And he will still find ways to twist and beat you.
As the Magic prepare to deploy their new defensive backcourt, they will have multiple solid guards to throw at Young. It will be interesting to see how Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jalen Suggs change the Magic's defensive outlook against Trae Young and the Hawks.
But Young is still the biggest wild card in the league. He is good enough to win games on his own star power. And there are few players like that in the league.
1. Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat
Everything in the Eastern Conference still circles around the Miami Heat. They are the team that goes bump in the night and is the monster hiding under the bed.
And the real demon of the bunch is Jimmy Butler.
He is an MVP candidate when he wants to be, as evidenced by some of his stellar playoff performances. But Butler does not bring that all the time. And even he has to realize his time is starting to run short.
Entering his age-35 season, he has one big contract left to sign. He knows it and seems to be testing the Heat's resolve to sign him to one more long-term deal.
It should be no coincidence that Butler entered training camp with a normal hairstyle. The shenanigans are gone on his end, or so it seems. He is all business.
That is one of the big storylines for the Heat this year. They are going to try to take the regular season more seriously. That probably starts with Butler.
Butler played 60 games last year, averaging 20.8 points per game and shooting 41.4 percent from three. He missed the playoffs however after averaging 26.9 points per game in Miami's run to the NBA Finals in 2023.
The Orlando Magic have faced Butler's wrath plenty too. But he missed out on the games against the Magic last year.
He averaged 19.0 points per game, 6.0 rebounds per game and 5.0 assists per game in two games against the Magic last year. But likely all Orlando fans remember is him taking over the game late to force overtime in a pair of games at the Amway Center in the 2023 season.
Butler is a prime-time player. And maybe the Magic taking the division crown pokes the bear just the right amount. We will find out soon enough on opening night just how serious he and the Heat are taking this season.