Western Conference Preview

Northwest

An immensely talented young core at Portland gives this division an exciting and fresh new look. Utah should walk the division but expect to see the Blazers in the playoffs too. Minnesota and Oklahoma both have talented leaders but not enough around them to do any damage.

One liners

Denver: No Camby but AI and Melo are still formidable, expect more from JR Smith: 9^th

Minnesota: Al Jefferson is on the verge of becoming and All Star and with a few more three-point threats this year they will surprise some teams: 12^th

Oklahoma: Durrant is one year better and Westbrook is an exciting rookie, they’ll still be in the lottery: 14^th

Portland: Brandon Roy leads this team of youngsters, if they stay healthy they’ll scare some of the more traditional powers come playoff time: 7^th

Utah: May have a disruptive season with Boozer a summer free agent, if he bolts then, this could be their last real shot at a title for a while: 3^rd  

Pacific

The Lakers, with a healthy Andrew Bynum will walk the division and could take the title too. How well Baron Davis’ new teammates play alongside him for the other LA team will determine their season. Elsewhere don’t expect much improvement from Phoenix, Golden State and the Kings.

One liners

Golden State: They lost BDiddy and Monta Ellis is in trouble and injured, the Warriors will still be exciting but won’t win too many games: 11^th

LA Clippers: They have BDiddy but the loss on Brand is big; youngsters Gordon and Thornton will need to fulfil potential if the Clips are going to make the playoffs: 10^th

LA Lakers: Bynum is back, Pau has a point to prove and Kobe is Kobe: 1^st

Phoenix: Nash and O’Neal are past their best but Amare is just reaching his prime: 5^th

Sacramento: Kevin Martin will score a lot of points this year but unless someone steps up alongside him, they’ll be the same as last year: 13^th

Southwest

Poor Memphis will again finish bottom of the league’s toughest division. The battle for top spot is between the Hornets, Spurs and Rockets as the Mavericks, even with a new coach, have issues.

One liners

Dallas: JKidd is old, J5 has character issues and Dirk is a bottler – The Mavs will want to prove a lot of people wrong: 8^th

Houston: RonRon has arrived and if everyone stays fit they’ll be as good as anyone; they are deep: 4^th

Memphis: With Conley, Mayo and Gay, there will be a lot of highlights; with Milicic and their other scrubs they’ll also lose a lot of games: 15^th

New Orleans: Paul was nearly MVP last year and he’ll be challenging again this year, James Posey could take them that little bit further this year: 2^nd

San Antonio: Ginobili is injured, Duncan is slowing and their roleplayers are ageing, after a successful decade things are starting to slow down for the Spurs: 6^th

^{Image credit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Andrew_Bynum.jpg}