It's the end of October, which means two things: Halloween and the start of the NBA season.
After a summer of blockbuster trades, scandals and one of the most hyped-up draft classes of all time, the dust has settled for the most part, and the league will open up the 2007-2008 season tonight.
Last June, the San Antonio Spurs won their fourth NBA championship in the past decade, and they should be one of the top contenders for the title once again this season. Though the Spurs' biggest offseason acquisition was former Portland Trailblazers forward Ime Udoka, San Antonio still has its big three of Tim Duncan, Finals MVP Tony Parker and top sixth man Manu Ginobili. The Spurs will need Duncan to put up his usual MVP-worthy numbers in their quest to repeat as champions.
The Spurs might be the Western Conference favorite, but they will certainly be challenged by a few other teams, most prominently the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns.
Dallas had a tumultuous offseason after losing in six games to the eighth-seeded Golden State Warriors in the playoffs last spring. Though there was talk of overhauling the roster after the Mavericks' poor play in the postseason, owner Mark Cuban and general manager Donnie Nelson did little to improve their team besides signing free agent Eddie Jones.
Dallas was the top team in the regular season with 67 wins, and will again be anchored by last year's MVP Dirk Nowitzki. With a supporting cast led by Josh Howard, Jason Terry and Devin Harris, the Mavs should be one of the top seeds in the West once again, though they will hope that their infamous collapse from last season is not repeated.
Phoenix arguably would have beaten the Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals last year if not for the suspensions of Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw in Game 5. This year, the Suns look loaded once again, though they are one of the smallest teams in the league.
Stoudemire will be counted on to defend opposing centers, although he is a natural power forward, and 6'7" Shawn Marion will be the team's power forward. With Steve Nash at point guard and Leandro Barbosa off the bench, the Suns are one of the fastest teams in the league and will look to run the opposition out of the gym. If the Suns can build up their defense to match their offensive prowess, they could finally make an appearance in the Finals.
Though the West may still be the power conference, the East has a number of Finals contenders and is greatly improved once again this season.
The Boston Celtics, the second-worst team in the league last year, now find themselves laden with the hope of bringing a 17th championship to Boston. After losing out on Greg Oden and Kevin Durant in the draft lottery, the Celtics traded the fifth overall pick in a deal that netted them seven-time All-Star Ray Allen from the Seattle Supersonics and made the biggest acquisition of the summer, trading young gun Al Jefferson and a package of others to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Kevin Garnett. The Celtics may lack depth, but they are hoping that their "Big Three" of these two offseason stud acquisitions and Paul Pierce, can carry them to the Finals.
Besides the Celtics, there are a number of other teams vying for the Eastern Conference crown. The Detroit Pistons might not have made as many moves as Boston, but their decision to re-sign point guard Chauncey Billups should put them in the upper echelon of the East once again. The Pistons' postseason experience and depth will serve as tremendous assets in the playoffs.
The sleeper team in the East might be the Chicago Bulls, who are one of the most talented teams in the league despite their youth. Chicago did not get the production it wanted from last year's prized free-agent pickup Ben Wallace, but the team's frontcourt should be improved this season with the reliable Joe Smith, up and coming second-year forward Tyrus Thomas, and rookie Joakim Noah.
The Bulls have a dynamic backcourt of Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich to go along with emerging star Luol Deng, and with that trio leading the way, this could be the year Chicago puts it together and makes a playoff run.
Of course, all of this is moot if the rumored trade with the Los Angeles Lakers for Kobe Bryant occurs sometime in the early months of the season, which would make the Bulls the odds-on favorites to represent the Eastern Conference in the Finals.
The East seems to be wide open this year, which could spell a difficult season for the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers. Two key components in their postseason run, Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic, remain unsigned as free agents, and the Cavaliers struggled in the preseason. LeBron James will be counted on to shoulder the load if Cleveland hopes to make it back to the Finals this year.
Whether anyone from the East can beat Duncan and San Antonio this season remains to be seen. If the Celtics, Pistons or Bulls can live up to their offseason hype and take the championship, the Larry O'Brien Trophy will continue its trend of bouncing from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference as it has done each of the past five years.
