Washington Wizards: Where they stand in the Southeast Division, Part 1

The Washington Wizards will be looking to make a deep playoff run once more during the 2017-18 season against their weakened Southeast Division.

The Washington Wizards look to be in strong position within their own division even more so than it appeared last year. Inside the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference, they are by far the most talented team among the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat and Orlando Magic.

Today we will be examining how the Wizards match up against their biggest rival within that division, the Atlanta Hawks. While the Wizards finished the regular season with 49 wins, the Hawks were not far behind finishing with 43 total. They would then meet in the playoffs, where the Wizards would win in the first round series in six games.

Since then, the Hawks have had a major overhaul of their roster, where essentially all of the talent they had the season prior has left the building. The notable departures of Paul Millsap, Dwight Howard and Tim Hardaway Jr. mean the Hawks may be leaving behind their 10 consecutive seasons with a playoff appearance and embracing a full rebuild.

The Atlanta Hawks were the strongest contender in the Southeast against the Washington Wizards, but now may end up being the worst team in the division. John Wall is simply better compared to Dennis Schroder, who is now the best player on the roster for Atlanta.

The rest of the comparisons show just how deep in trouble the Hawks may be until they can reel in more talent.

The starting five comparison

The same Washington Wizards starting cast returning means big trouble for any team in the league finding itself in the middle of a roster rebuild. It seems most likely the starters from 2-5 would be Marco Belinelli/Taurean Prince, Kent Bazemore, Ersan Ilyasova and Dewayne Dedmon.

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Bazemore and Belinelli are possible starters this season just in terms of experience. Although Belinelli has only started 16 games over the past three seasons, he is the best option over the four other players listed at guard on their roster as they are all rookies or second-year players (unless they moved Taurean Prince to the 2).

Kent Bazemore had a decent season at best while he started 64 games, averaging 11.0 points per game with a suspect slash line of .409/.346/.708 that needs huge improvement in every area. This should speak volumes to how much trouble the Hawks are in with the shape of their roster. Both players will have to match up against Bradley Beal and Otto Porter, who are vastly superior in their skill-set compared to Bazemore and Belinelli.

Ersan Ilyasova has appeared on five teams in the past two seasons and has started 108 games during that time. It is possible we may see more of Taurean Prince in the mix coming off of his rookie season, but anyway you spin it, the lineup is quite weak compared to the Washington Wizards.

Going forward it is most likely to see Dedmon as the starter for the majority of the season, with Miles Plumlee and Mike Muscala fighting for minutes until Dedmon recovers.

Final Thoughts

Without beating this dead horse any longer, it seems clear cut at this point the Washington Wizards are a strong over-match for the Atlanta Hawks in 2017-18. You have John Wall on Dennis Schroder as the closest matchup on the court, otherwise, Bradley Beal, Otto Porter Jr., Markieff Morris and Marcin Gortat should be able to muscle Atlanta around any way they see fit.

The Wizards will host the Hawks in their first meeting Nov. 11 and will not meet again until Dec. 27 in Atlanta.

They will then meet two more times for the season, on Jan. 27 in Atlanta and once more on April 6. The Washington Wizards will be home for their final meeting and it will be the third-to-last game of the regular season.

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It seems fair to predict the Washington Wizards will sweep the Hawks for the 2017-18 season. With their closest competitor inside their division likely to become one of the worst teams in the league this season, it looks like the Wizards may smoothly sail into the playoffs this year once more.