After everything we have been through waiting for the nonsense and the lockout (seems to be what all the cool kids are doing these days) to be over, finally. We are prepping for a season of hoops. Shorter schedule, only 66 games, fine with me. Personally I always felt the league could make the season 65-70 games and it would be more meaningful, so 66 is great.

A new beginning is imminent on December 25th with a boatload of great matchup’s to watch all day and night. So with the season knocking on our doorsteps, let’s take a look at the teams ahead and where they potentially could line up this season. After a great drama filled season last year. Welcome back NBA!

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Boston Celtics; Last season, 56-26, (Another year older, short season could help with the age thing.) New York Knick; Last season, 42-40, (Keep the game up-tempo, Tyson Chandler will help their nonexistent defense.) Philadelphia 76ers; Last season, 41-41, (Still a middle of the road team, new backcourt look is intriguing though.) New Jersey Nets; Last season, 24-58, (Still need scoring, Deron Williams with another year behind him should help.) Toronto Raptors; Last season, 22-60, (no real exciting stuff here, same old same old.)

Central

Chicago Bulls; Last season, 62-20, (Rip is a nice utility guy added for the team, but I don’t think enough to make a huge difference.) Indiana Pacers; Last season, 37-45, (Love the David West pick up.) Milwaukee Bucks; Last season, 35-47, (Good defense, still needs better scoring.) Detroit Pistons; Last season, 30-52, (Ben Gordon should be main scoring option this season.) Cleveland Cavaliers; Last season, 19-63, (Young rebuilding process begins now.)

Southeast

Miami Heat; Last season, 58-24, (Another season together, they will be much improved.) Orlando Magic; Last season, 52-30, (3 point bombing team, with D12 they stay competitive, without they drop drastically.) Atlanta Hawks; Last season, 44-38, (Tracy McGrady no big help for Atlanta.) Charlotte Bobcats; Last season, 34-48, (I like Charlotte’s team, and waiting to see Kemba play, tough division.) Washington Wizards; Last season, 23-59, (Big front court, still the Wizards nevertheless.)

Western Conference

Northwest Oklahoma City Thunder; Last season, 55-27, (Nice team already – only getting better.) Denver Nuggets; Last season, 50-32, (Stayed strong last season, amidst the change, a better team than people believe.) Portland Trailblazers; Last season, 48-34, (Wes Matthews up and coming star, good quality forwards, solid team.) Utah Jazz; Last season, 39-43, (Same team, still can’t rebound.) Minnesota Timberwolves; Last season, 17-65, (Kevin Love, though looking forward to Derrick Williams and Rubio experiment.)

Pacific

Los Angeles Lakers; Last season, 57-25, (Going to be battling in this division, still no PG action to lead the team.) Los Angeles Clippers; Last season, 32-50, (Buying into this team, my side team to root for this year, love the moves.) Golden State Warriors; Last season, 36-46, (Getting better, but so are division teams.) Phoenix Suns; Last season, 40-42, (Getting older, Mickael Pietrus should be a starter by mid-season.) Sacramento Kings; Last season, 24-58, (Jimmer Fredette will keep people watching, kids better than given credit for, can shoot off the dribble and with Cousins inside, a few years away from being improved.)

Southwest

Dallas Mavericks; Last season, 57-25, (Defending champs lose their defensive stopper, but adding Lamar Odom ads mad versatility.) Memphis Grizzlies; Last season, 46-36, (Randolph and Gasol = a lot of beef to guard up front.) San Antonio Spurs; Last season, 61-21, (age and more age, but still viable, big step back this year.) Houston Rockets; Last season, 43-39, (Kevin McHale behind the bench will work well with their bigs and Scola and Jordan Hill will both get better.) New Orleans Hornets; Last season, 46-36, (Eric Gordon will score, and Kaman can give inside presence, but Paul was irreplaceable, building for future.)

Written by Tony Karpinski for VegasTopDogs.com