No division has a larger divide from top to bottom than the Southeast, where the Heat are an incredible 40 games up on the Magic and 40.5 ahead of the Bobcats. There's also an incredible 17-game gap between Miami and the second-place Hawks — none of the NBA's other five division leaders have a lead of more than 6.5 games. Here's the latest out of the Southeast:
- The Heat may have missed out on Kenyon Martin when they chose to sign Juwan Howard, but the team "clearly valued chemistry over any other factor," says Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. However, with Miami relying heavily on Norris Cole lately, Winderman questions why there isn't a third point guard on the roster.
- Cap expert Tom Penn discusses the Bobcats' cap situation with Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, suggesting that the team ought to be "patiently aggressive" with what could be $20MM+ in cap room.
- Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution explains how the Hawks are likely to have four draft picks this June, thanks to the Rockets. As our projected draft order shows, if the season ended today, Atlanta would have the 18th, 20th, 48th, and 50th picks this summer.