The NBA is upon us, here's a preview!

Who is going to be crowned king of the courts for the 09-10 season? Well, for me, it comes down to 5 teams. Three of them I'd consider the favorites, and two teams I'd like to say are wild card teams.

My favorites to win it all have to begin with the defending champion Lakers. They are a different team this year from last, and I don't know if that's necessarily a good thing. The Ron Artest situation may work out, but I don't really think that it will. However, any team with Kobe Bryant at its core will be a title contender. I see a breakout year coming for Andrew Bynum. Like a "I'm going to be a top 3 center before the year is out" type season. If he stays healthy of course. That is going to be the key to their season. The emergence of Bynum and if they can stay healthy. I think they have the best record out West.

Speaking of a team that needs to stay healthy, we get to my second of three favorites, and my favorite to make it to the finals out of the East, the Boston Celtics. Rasheed Wallace is going to be a great addition for this team. He doesn't need to be the guy in Boston. He takes a back seat to the big three and Rajon Rondo. This is key for Sheed. He excels in this role. I think he is going to be the piece they were missing last season. Of course, this team relies on several players who are getting up their in age. Kevin Garnett is coming off knee surgery, and if he goes down again, well there goes the season. however, assuming the team stays healthy, and Rondo continues to make his ascent amongst the leagues great point guards, this team will be unstoppable in the Eastern Conference.

But that said, my pick to win it all this season is the San Antonio Spurs. They have the best coach, a core of players that have won it before, along with a couple of new additions that will put this team over the top one more time. I think this is the last hurrah for the Tim Duncan/Manu Ginobli/ Tony Parker connection. The addition of Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess and Dejuan Blair to the rotation make this team as a whole better than the Lakers. I see them knocking off the Celtics in the finals. That is of course if one of my wild card teams doesn't knock out either.

The first of these wild card teams is Orlando. They made the finals last year after knocking off Lebron and the Cavs. This year the have replaced Hedo Turkoglu with Vince Carter and he is the ultimate wild card. He could either play like he gives a crap and take this team back to the finals, or he can be Vince Carter. It is yet to be seen. I think this is the only team that gives the Celtics a run, and if the Celtics fall to injury, look for Orlando to be the last man standing in the east once again.

My other wild card team, and the 5th team I think can make a run at the title this season is the Portland Trail Blazers. This team is loaded with young talent just itching to break out. Brandon Roy, Lemarcus Aldridge, and the reason for them being a wild card, the unpredictable Greg Oden. Will he show why he was a number one overall pick? Or will his body succumb to injuries one again? If he can stay on the court, I do think he is a great talent. And if all of these players come into their own, I can see them making a deep playoff run, and possibly a surprise run to a championship.

So really those are the 5 teams I see that actually have a chance at this thing. If you are surprised that a team in Cleveland is left off the list, I can tell you that I don't think the Shaquille O'Neill thing is going to work out their, and beyond that, they are generally the same team they were last year that couldn't get the job done. Lebron is going to end up doing it all by himself again, becoming exceedingly frustrated, and bolting out of their during the off-season.

Here's how I see it breaking down with the rest of the playoff teams:

Western Conference
1. Los Angeles Lakers
2. San Antonio Spurs
3. Portland Trail Blazers
4. Dallas Mavericks
5. Phoenix Suns
6. Denver Nuggets
7. New Orleans Hornets
8. Utah Jazz

Eastern Conference
1. Boston Celtics
2. Orlando Magic
3. Cleveland Cavaliers
4. Totonto Raptors
5. Chicago Bulls
6. Atlanta Hawks
7. Miami Heat
8. New Jersey Nets

Western Conference Playoffs First Round
1. Lakers over 8. Jazz
2. Spurs over 7. Hornets
3. Trail Blazers over 6. Nuggets
4. Mavericks over 5. Suns

Eastern Conference Playoffs First Round
1. Celtics over 8. Nets
2. Magic over 7. Heat
6. Hawks over 3. Cavaliers
4. Raptors over 5. Bulls

Western Conference Semi-final
1. Lakers over Mavericks
2. Spurs over Trail Blazers

Eastern Conference Semi-final
1. Celtics over 4. Raptors
2. Magic over 6. Hawks

Western Conference Final
2. Spurs over 1. Lakers

Eastern Conference Final
1. Celtics over 2. Magic

NBA Finals
Spurs over Celtics

There you have it. As you can see, I'm pretty high on the Raptors, Bulls, Hawks, Mavericks and Suns. And I think the Nets make the playoffs in the East. I like their team a little bit

Here's some fantasy players I love this season. I know its too late for your draft, but if you can target these guys in trades, I'd advise it. Hopefully I'm skipping the obvious names here:
Jose Calderon PG- TOR
Devin Harris PG-NJN
Brook Lopez PF/C-NJN
David West PF- NO
Lemarcus Aldridge PF/C-POR
David Lee- PF/C- NYK
Derrick Rose PG-CHI
Andrew Bynum PF/C- LAL
AL Horford PF/C- ATL
Russell Westbrook PG- OKC
Eric Gordon SG-LAC
Jeff Green F/G- OKC
Joakim Noah- PF/C-CHI
Antonio McDyess C-SAS
Aaron Brooks PG- HOU
Louis Scola PF/C- HOU

That'll do it. I'll start doing NBA Power Rankings every two weeks, starting after the second week of NBA action. NFL picks will be up on Saturday, until then, take care.