NBA Power Rankings: Breaking down the divisions

May 29, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (left) and San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan (21) react during the second half in game five of the Western Conference Finals of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports /

4 of 7

Mar 10, 2014; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade (3) is fouled by Washington Wizards point guard John Wall (2) in the second half at American Airlines Arena. The Heat won 99-90. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports /

4. Southeast Division

Any division with four likely playoff teams should probably be higher than No. 4 on our rankings, but what can I say? If those four teams played in the West NOT A SINGLE ONE would be guaranteed a playoff spot. Don’t believe me? Only the Miami Heat would’ve qualified for the postseason out West last year, and they wouldn’t have without LeBron James. What the Southeast lacks in star power, especially compared to the two juggernauts of the Central Division, it makes up for with intrigue and postseason positioning.

The Heat regrouped about as well as you possibly could after losing the best player in the league, adding Luol Deng, Josh McRoberts and Danny Granger to strengthen the rotation. But Miami’s competitiveness will now rely on Chris Bosh going back to being a 20-10 guy and Dwyane Wade staying healthy and looking more like Flash than he has in the past four years. Both of those are uneasy bets.

The Charlotte Hornets acquired Lance Stephenson and got a couple of steals in the draft with Noah Vonleh and P.J. Hairston, while the Washington Wizards added some veteran leadership with Paul Pierce. John Wall and Bradley Beal are only going to get better from here and the East is still relatively open even with Chicago and Cleveland looking like early favorites. When all is said and done, the Southeast might have as many as three dark horse contenders for the Eastern belt between Miami, Washington and Charlotte.

The Atlanta Hawks were a 38-win team last year, but if Al Horford can stay healthy, that’s another very good team (well, by Eastern standards at least). The Orlando Magic are the only non-playoff team in this division, but they could be better than advertised if the young pieces click faster than expected. Victor Oladipo will be playing his natural position at shooting guard now, Elfrid Payton and Aaron Gordon both have a ton of potential and guys like Nikola Vucevic and Tobias Harris are only going to improve from here. This is the best division in the East…but all three divisions in the West will still be better.

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