2009 NBA Title Contenders

What do we know after two days of the 2008-09 NBA season? We know the Celtics are going to defend the EFFING hell out of their crown as the LeBron's plot their coup. We know the Lakers are the biggest and deepest team in the league. And we know the Suns and Spurs are old. Really old. Like almost as old as Greg Oden. (Was that too soon?)

Oh yeah, and we know that the day David Stern doesn’t get universally booed on site is the day he’s perfected that nifty mind control device he’s been working on. Something tells me it’ll be ready to go by draft night in New York next summer. Stay tuned.

Alas, aside from those truths, much is yet to be decided, and with reason. That’s why they play the games, duh.

Since my team is the defending champs after years of being the defending lottery losers, this preview will concentrate strictly on actual title contenders.

(Bear in mind, I called the Celtics to win 58 games and make the Finals last year when most “prominent writers" with “readerships” had them as a four or five seed in the East. I guess while you’re at it, strike from the record my pick of the Knicks as a playoff team…)

Here we go.

Eastern Conference

The Favorite: Boston Celtics

They were thrown together last year as part of Danny Ainge’s personal science experiment. The basketball world waited for Paul Pierce to demand more shots, for Kevin Garnett to shrink on the biggest stage of his life, and for Ray Allen’s ankles to detach from his calves. It anticipated their demise after they dropped three games a piece to Zaza Pachulia’s Hawks and Bron’s Cavs, except that fourth loss never came.

Now, for the 17th time in franchise history, the Celts are the returning champs. If you watched Pierce during the banner raising ceremony or have watched Garnett at all throughout his career, do you honestly believe this team is satiated? Their original goal was to restore the pride, which they did. Their new goal is to stamp a collective legacy and do something that not even the original Big Three was able to accomplish: capture back-to-back titles. Go on and tell them it’s not possible. Last I checked, anything’s possible.

Lurking: Cleveland Cavaliers

If I’m the rest of the league, I genuinely fear this team. LeBron is at the point in his career where only he can hinder himself (see: free throw shooting and unnecessary treys). The Cavs are tough, defensive-minded, strong on the glass, and now armed with a legitimate threat at point guard (Mo Williams). The only thing Cavs fans should be worried about is whether or not the gold medal King James earned in Beijing sufficiently validated his status as a “global icon.” For the sake of a fan base holding on by a thread in the City that Rocks, let’s hope not.

Time’s Slippin Away: Detroit Pistons

Joe Dumars is like the schoolyard bully. He’ll push you around and talk a big game, but won’t ever make a serious move. Following each of the last three underwhelming exits by his team a step short of the Finals, the Pistons GM threatened to implode the NBA’s steadiest nucleus.

Yet for the fifth consecutive season, the Fab Four of Rip Hamilton, Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace, and Tayshaun Prince will be running Motown. Year after year they play hard and dole out respect—on their own terms. That holier-than-thou mentality has consistently irked Dumars, but not enough to actually blow the team up. You can’t have it both ways.

To Be Determined: Orlando Magic