WESTERN CONFERENCE

THE perennially more competitive Western Conference will begin with a bang next week with the battle for the Staples Center, and the city of Los Angeles. Both the Clippers and the Lakers are expected play-off contenders and some might argue, should be title challengers.

The Lakers, of course, have seen Dwight Howard move on to join James Harden in Houston. However, the addition of the useful Chris Kaman and the mercurial Nick Young will hopefully see a more balanced offence, and bench from the Lakers. This, in addition to the return of the legend Kobe Bryant from injury. The Clippers had a disappointing first-round defeat to the defensive stalwarts the Memphis Grizzlies last season after a stellar regular season. However, they will be hoping that proven coach, Doc Rivers, will be able to get the best out of the likes of De-Andre Jordan — his defensive focal point as well as Chris Paul and Blake Griffin.

Arguably the most exciting new faces will be the Golden State Warriors. The addition of Andre Iguodala to the vastly talented set-up they already had, seems to be working out well for the youngsters of the conference. Iguodala, is joined by the old head of Toney Douglas to guide the young Steph Curry and take the Warriors into true contender status.

Of course, the mainstays are back: with the big three of San Antonio, Westbrook and Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder and the aforementioned Grizzlies, they have all maintained or strengthened their roster and should be there and thereabouts.

Another promising Western team, however, is the Houston Rockets who have added true star quality in Dwight Howard. All-Star Howard joins Omer Asik as two solid options at the ‘Center’ position, as they hope to complement James Harden and Jeremy Lin.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

THE question, as it always has been in recent times, is: who can dethrone the Miami Heat? If the answer you give is, ‘a team from the Central Division’, you would probably not be wrong.

The big two from this division are the Indiana Pacers who gave the Heats a run for their money last post-season and the Chicago Bulls. Two seasons ago, rookie manager Tom Thibodeau took the Bulls to the Eastern Conference finals, with Derrick Rose winning MVP.

Last season, Derrick Rose was out, and still, the solid Bulls were an above .500 team. With Rose returning, the possibilities truly are boundless.

We saw the Pacers prove themselves as true contenders last year. And much like the Bulls, they have true star quality returning: in the form of Danny Granger. He will rejoin the likes of Jamaican Roy Hibbert, Paul George as well as the reliable Luis Scola who should add points from the bench.

Even the Cleveland Cavaliers, also from this division, could make the play-offs with the returning Anderson Verajao joining Kyrie Irving and Andrew Bynum in a pretty balanced line-up.

The New York teams, the Nets and the Knicks should also be around. For the Knicks, if Raymond Felton coalesces into his role as the Knicks’ main creator, he will find support in Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler as well as promising rookie guard Tim Hardaway Jr, son of the NBA legend he shares his name with.

The Nets, now coached by former Knick Jason Kidd, have added support for Deron Williams in the form of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.

— Yakum Fitz-Henley