The Best and Worst Season for Every NBA Southeast Division Franchise

The NBA’s Southeast Division is one of the three divisions introduced during the 2004-05 season when the Charlotte Bobcats became the 30th franchise in the

NBA

.

They joined the Southeast Division, which allows the league to have five teams in each of the six divisions.

The division is one of the youngest in the NBA, with multiple rising stars, including Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero, LaMelo Ball and several other blossoming players. Although the division has lacked competitiveness in recent years, it should continue to become more competitive as the young players mature.

The division is welcoming the top two selections in the 2024 NBA Draft.

Since the division’s beginning, only the

Miami Heat

have won an NBA title, and they are also the only team in the division to have a championship.

When the division was created, the only franchises with titles were the

Atlanta Hawks

and

Washington Wizards

, who won well before the division’s start, while their franchises had different names.

With only a few championships won, here are the best and worst seasons in history for each NBA franchise within the Southeast Division.

5

Atlanta Hawks

Best season – 2014-15

The Hawks won a single championship back in the 1950s. Their championship came in a season when eight teams were in the NBA, and they only won eight playoff games to win the finals.

That is the same number of playoff wins they had in the 2014-15 season when they set a new franchise record for wins in a season with a highly balanced roster.

The Hawks boasted four All-Stars during the 2014-15 season, having both a top-10 offense and top-10 defense, with a net rating of +5.8.

After starting the season 7-6, they went on a 33-2 run, dominating the competition. They played as a cohesive unit, which led to them securing the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

They made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they were knocked out by

LeBron James

and the

Cleveland Cavaliers

.

Worst season – 2004-05

The 2004–05 Hawks were abysmally bad. They set a franchise low in wins and were the worst team during that season.

They had a net rating of -10.5, ranking 29th in both offensive and defensive rating. In an era when defense reigned supreme, having a bad defense meant your team wasn’t going to win many games, and that is exactly what happened to the 2004-05 Hawks.

The biggest issue with the 2004-05 Hawks was their lack of depth. They had solid offensive starters, especially Antoine Walker and Al Harrington, who were their top scorers on the season, but they struggled defensively.

Despite having decent starters, their roster clearly lacked on both ends of the court. Not a single Hawks player finished with a positive box plus-minus on the season.

4

Charlotte Hornets

Best season – 1997-98

The

Charlotte Hornets

‘ history before 2000 was claimed by the modern-day Hornets after they re-branded from the Bobcats to the Hornets during the 2014-15 season.

As one of the franchises to have never reached an NBA Finals, the 1997-98 Hornets that made the second round were the best team in their history.

Led by Glen Rice, who averaged 22.3 points with shooting splits of 45.7 percent from the field and 43.3 percent from three, they reached the second round for only the second time in franchise history.

As a team that has never won their division in franchise history, their lack of overall star power has haunted them throughout their history.

During the 1997-98 season, they had a bonafide star with solid surrounding talent that allowed them to be in the top half of both points and opponent points per game, with a net rating of +2.2.

Had they not run into the dynasty

Chicago Bulls

in the playoffs, they could’ve made a deeper playoff run during that season.

Worst season – 2011-12

Sporting the worst winning percentage in the history of the NBA, the Bobcats were miserably bad during the 2011-12 season.

They are tied for the worst net rating in NBA history at -15.2.

They won their first game, but they lost 59 out of their next 65, including their last 23 games, eventually setting the record for the worst winning percentage.

The Bobcats lost 24 games by 20 or more points, and several more by double-digits. They were dead last in offensive rating, defensive rating and net rating. Their points per game of 87.0 was 17.1 worse than the team in first place.

Half of the players on their roster shot under 40 percent for the season, and they had the worst field goal percentage of any team while allowing their opponents to shoot the second-best.

3

Miami Heat

Best season – 2012-13

Boasting arguably the greatest big three of all time, the 2012-13 Heat were as dominant as any team.

They were led by James,

Dwyane Wade

and

chris bosh

, all members of the historic 2003 NBA Draft class.

Together, they formed a highly dynamic offensive and defensive threat that allowed them to boast the second-best net rating during the season, leading to a franchise-best number of victories.

After their dominant regular season with a +8.6 net rating and the best record in the NBA, they won their second straight Larry O’Brien trophy and their third in franchise history. They did so after a 16-7 playoff run with a +7.3 net rating and two intense seven-game series.

In Game 6 of the finals, Ray Allen hit one of the most clutch shots in NBA history to extend the series and ultimately win in Game 7.

Worst season – 1988-89

The Heat’s worst season was their initial season as an expansion team in the 1988-89 season when they were an extremely young team with 10 rookies on the roster.

Despite holding opposing teams to 109.0 points per game, which was 11th best in the NBA, they were horrible due to their terrible offense. They severely lacked scoring, as their top scorer was Kevin Edwards, who averaged 13.8 points per game.

With the high-powered offenses of the 1980s, the young Heat team couldn’t keep up. They only averaged 97.8 points per game, over 20 points worse than the highest-scoring team in the NBA that season and nearly six points worse than the second-worst squad.

What might have been the most challenging part of the Heat’s introduction to the NBA was being placed in the Western Conference during their first season. This required them to play 58 games against other Western Conference teams, which will likely be one of the most miles traveled for any team in the NBA’s history.

2

Orlando Magic

Best season – 2008-09

The 2008-09

Orlando Magic

were a well-balanced team that strived on a well-balanced offense and solid defense.

They had the best defensive rating in the entire NBA, which allowed them to finish with the fourth-best net rating of +7.2. They blew their season expectations out of the water and looked like one of the best up-and-coming teams in the NBA.

Dwight Howard

was, at one point, one of the most dominant two-way players in the entire NBA. The 2008-09 Magic proved precisely that when he helped lead them to their second NBA Finals appearance after defeating three tough teams in the Eastern Conference playoffs, including the 62-win

Boston Celtics

and 66-win Cavaliers.

Howard was great in the playoffs, averaging 20.3 points, 15.3 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game while shooting 60.1 percent from the field.

Despite his superstar performance, they were unable to overcome the

Kobe Bryant

-led

L.A. Lakers

.

Worst season – 1989-90

The 1989-90 Magic were fifth in the entire NBA in points per game, which shows how miserable their defense was during that year.

They scored 110.9 points per contest but gave up a staggering 119.8 points per game, allowing their opponents to shoot 49.8 percent for the season, both of which were dead-last in the league. Their horrible defense led to them setting a franchise low in wins that has yet to be broken.

As one of the younger teams, they started the season well with a record of 7-7 before their downfall. They won two of their next 18 games, but their biggest downfall was after the All-Star break when they had an abysmal 2-31 stretch.

They had a well-balanced offense with seven players averaging double-digits in points per game, but nearly all of those players were net negatives because of how bad of defenders they were.

1

Washington Wizards

Best season – 1977-78

The Wizards have won one single championship in their history, back in the 1977-78 season when they were called the Washington Bullets.

During the regular season, they were a middle-of-the-pack team, ranking 10th in offensive rating and ninth in defensive rating for a +0.9 net rating. However, due to the league’s parity, they still managed to finish as the third seed heading into the playoffs.

Behind strong, physical play, they drew the most fouls in the NBA, which allowed them to shoot 32.4 free throws a game.

Their star power behind Elvin Hayes and Bob Dandridge, who averaged over 21 points per game during their playoff run, allowed them to make the jump in the playoffs.

They cruised through the Eastern Conference playoffs, winning the first series 2-0, then consecutive series 4-2 to set up an NBA Finals appearance against the Seattle Supersonics.

Worst season – 2023-24

The worst season in Wizards’ franchise history came this past season when they won a franchise-low 15 games.

They had solid scorers in

Kyle Kuzma

and

Jordan Poole

, as well as other positive offensive pieces, but they severely lacked on defense, giving up 123.0 points per game.

Their -9.0 net rating was the worst in the franchise’s history and fourth-worst in the NBA during the 2023-24 season.

As one of the younger teams in the league and one that is rebuilding, the Wizards had low expectations, but players like Poole had higher expectations that he failed to achieve. They had a poorly constructed roster that was overly offense-driven, ignoring rebounding and defense.

They were second-last in rebounds per game while allowing their opponents to gather the most in the NBA. They averaged 7.8 fewer rebounds per game than their opponents, which is massive in a 48-minute ball game.

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