Once again, I want to thank Steve for helping out with the previews of all the NBA teams - last week was the East and now weve got the Western teams.

Theres only a week to go now until the season starts, and there have been a couple more trades completed. Firstly, Dan managed to get Dirk Nowitzki from Walesy, having to give up a fair bit for him, in JR Smith, Hibbert and Ridnour. I reckon Walesy has done fairly well here, and Im a bit worried about my first game, which is against him. Although not finalised yet, another trade has been accepted - Karlos sending DeRozan to Heaver in exchange for Monroe.

Not surprisingly, Miami won the poll for last week: Who do you think will be this seasons Eastern Champ? The Heat finished with 67% of the vote, followed by the Bulls in 2nd place with 22% of the votes.

Surprise, surprise! This weeks question is: Who do you think will be this seasons Western Champ? <a title="poll" href="http://games.espn.go.com/fba/leagueoffice?leagueId=23530" target="_blank">Go HERE to vote.[/url] and you need to be signed in to vote.

A couple of weeks ago, I asked for suggestions for a regular trophy we can have each week during the season. There were a few suggestions:  Smitty has come up with "The Mad Bombers Trophy": For the team that hits the most 3-ptrs each round. "The Dirk Diggler Award": For the team with the longest … win streak of the season &amp; "The Bakery Award": For the team that piles up the most turnovers each round. Owen suggested "the Katy Perry award": team with most double doubles each round. Dan came up with the "Itchy Trigger Finger": the person who trades of the FA list the most. I think thats all that was suggested, please let us know in the comments section what you all like out of these, or if you have any new ideas (or any that you have already suggested that i havent mentioned). If anyone wants to have a look at the current trophies on offer, <a title="trophy" href="http://games.espn.go.com/fba/trophylist?leagueId=23530" target="_blank">have a look HERE.[/url] FWIW, I prob like the Dirk Diggler, or the Itchy Trigger Finger at this stage.

Now over the break will be Steves previews of the Western Conference teams, and next week Ill do a preview of the first matchups of our league.

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[span style="text-decoration: underline">NBA Western Conference Preview (courtesy of Steve)[span style="text-decoration: underline">

In my last post I did a preview on the Eastern Conference, now it is time to preview the Western Conference. Once again, let me know what you think of my predictions? Do you agree or disagree?

Portland TrailBlazers

Portland were decimated by injuries last year and still were able to make the playoffs which was a huge effort. They are led by Brandon Roy who is one of the better SG’s in the league. The Blazers chances will rest on the fitness of their big men Oden and Przybilla who are coming back from serious injuries. Considering the Blazers drafted Oden ahead of Durant, they would want to get some return for their investment as Durant is a star. Fully fit I think the Blazers could challenge the Lakers and the Thunder in the West as Portland is one of the toughest places to play at in the league.

Los Angeles Clippers

The Clippers are the small brother to the number one team in LA (The Lakers). The Clippers continue to disappoint year after year and I can’t see much changing again this year. They will have high hopes for Blake Griffin to finally see some extended court time and will rely heavily on the K-Man (Chris Kaman) to pick up points and boards and for Eric Gordon to continue his improvement. The Clippers just don’t have the depth to compete with the elite teams in the West.

Oklahoma City Thunder

The transformation in this team has been incredible since they moved from Seattle a few years ago. They have assembled one of the best young squads in the league and are led by superstar Kevin Durant, who is my tip to win the MVP this year. Also Russell Westbrook is another player on the rise who will be in many fantasy teams this year. Oklahoma pushed the Lakers all the way in the first round of the Western playoffs last year and I think they will be the biggest challenger to ending the Lakers dominance this year. This team will be power team of the West for the next 4 to 5 years.

San Antonio Spurs

Once again the usual suspects will be lining up for the Spurs, e.g Duncan, Parker and Ginobli. The Spurs have done quite well recently in adding some youth to the team in George Hill and Dejuan Blair who are good role players. You can always count on the Spurs to get the job done as they are one of the most professional teams running around in the NBA under coach Greg Popovich. The Spurs will be contesting the playoffs this year but I don’t think they can match some of the stronger teams in the West.

Golden State Warriors

The Warriors are another fun team to watch in the NBA as they don’t know how to play any defence. Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry racked up some big numbers last year as they did most of the Warriors scoring. Golden State has picked up David Lee from the Knicks who I rate very highly so it will be interesting to see if he can provide any defensive component to their game. The Warriors will win their share of games at home but they are one of the weaker road teams as their style of play does not suit long road trips where you are playing 4 games over 5 to 6 nights.

Dallas Mavericks

I would have to say that the Mavs have probably the most even team in the NBA. They only have one legitimate star in their team which is Dirk Nowitzki who provides a viable scoring option each game. However the biggest strength of the Mavs is that they have a very good bench with players like Terry, Marion, JJ Barea all playing their part. They will rely again on Jason Kidd to direct traffic in their offence and hope that Caron Butler plays to his full potential as he showed some encouraging signs late last season after being traded by the Wizards mid season. They will be in the playoffs this year.

Los Angeles Lakers

In my opinion, the Lakers only have 2 players which are Kobe and Pau Gasol who have done the vast majority of their scoring during their 2 consecutive titles. But the real reason why the Lakers have been so successful is that they have a group of players who know what their roles are and are willing to sacrifice themselves for the betterment of the team. Players like Artest, Fisher, and Odom do the little things right which is why they are such a dominant team. The Lakers will be hoping that Andrew Bynum can return soon from injury to help out Gasol. The Lakers will be a force again this year.

Memphis Grizzlies

The Grizz are another team with a good batch of young players on the rise. They took significant steps last year and just missed out on the playoffs. Memphis will be hoping that Zach Randolph maintains his play from last year and that Rudy Gay and O J Mayo take another step up. The other Gasol, “Marc” plays for the Grizzlies and while he is nowhere in the same class as Pau, he is a vital component to the chances of Memphis. I can see the Grizz sneaking into the playoffs this year which will be a huge achievement for them.

New Orleans Hornets

The Hornets had a difficult year last year which resulted in their coach getting sacked half way through the season. If CP3 (Chris Paul) can stay healthy, the Hornets will be back on the way up. Paul is an absolute gun and will be able to dish the ball out to the Hornets shooters which wont place as much pressure on their big man David West to score heavily each game. The Hornets will be in the mix for the one of the lower playoff spots.

Phoenix Suns

Early on last season, the Suns attempted to play more accountable defence but it did last long and they went back to their high scoring offensive game style. Losing Amare Stoudemire to the Knicks will hurt but they have picked Hedo Turkologu from the Raptors who should fit in nicely with the Suns. Steve Nash is not getting any younger and will need some help from Goran Dragic as his back up. The Suns will win enough games during the regular year to make the playoffs but until they learn to play some defence they will struggle in the playoffs.

Utah Jazz

The Jazz have the longest current serving coach in the NBA in Jerry Sloan who has been coaching them for well over the last 20 years (another Kevin Sheedy). Personally I think Sloan has been there too long and they need a change of coach. There has been a fair amount of player movement during the off season for the Jazz which has resulted in Boozer, Korver and Matthews going to new homes. They did pick up Al Jefferson from the T-Wolves who is a like replacement for Boozer. They have not seriously challenged in the playoffs for the last few years and I can see them just missing out this year. D-Will (Deron Williams) is the key for the Jazz, if he stays healthy they have a chance.

Denver Nuggets

The key to the Nuggets chances in the West depend upon how long Carmelo Anthony stays with them. There is the strong chance that he could be traded before the season starts or even during the season itself as he becomes a free agent next year. If Carmelo stays, then the Nuggets will once again be one of the strong chances for the West as he will have good support in Chauncey Billups, JR Smith and Nene. The Nugs have also picked Al Harrington from the Knicks who should fit in with their style of play. Hopefully their coach George Karl has made a full recovery from his throat cancer which caused some problems last year.

Sacramento Kings

The Kings are another team going through a rebuilding stage at the moment. They do have the reigning rookie of the year in Tyreke Evans who surprised everyone last year with his play. The Kings have picked up Samuel Dalembert from the 76’ers and he should provide a boost to their frontcourt. The Kings have a bunch of hard working “no name” players on their roster and they are always tough to beat at home. They will need some luck during the season with injuries as they just don’t have the depth to cover them unlike the stronger teams. They will miss out on the playoffs.

Houston Rockets

The Rockets will be praying that Yao Ming’s body holds up to the rigours of a full NBA season. They do also have Luis Scola to help out in the big man department and they have a good group of shooters in Lowry, Budinger and Brooks. It will be interesting to see what style of game the Rockets play this year? Last year without Yao they became a more offensive team, so who knows what will happen this year? Houston will be around the mark for a lower playoff spot.

Minnesota T-Wolves

The T-Wolves are still in the process of rebuilding their squad since Kevin Garnett went to the Celtics. Losing Al Jefferson will also hurt this year and they will be hoping Kevin Love can take over his role. The T-Wolves are going to struggle again this year as they simply don’t have the class or talent to the match most of the teams in the NBA. If they win more than 30 games for the season they will be doing very well.

So here are my predictions for the Western Conference

1. LA Lakers

2. Oklahoma City Thunder

3. Portland TrailBlazers

4. San Antonio Spurs

5. Dallas Mavericks

6. Phoenix Suns

7. Denver Nuggets

8. Memphis Grizzlies