Best in the West

1- Lakers: The Lakers are my personal favorite to win the ring this year. Led by last years finals MVP Kobe Bryant. With improved play from Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum and the addition of Ron Artest they will be a tough team for anyone to beat. Shannon Brown brings L.A energy off the bench and Jordan Farmar is capable of going off for 20 points on any given night. The key to this teams success will be the health of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol down the stretch of the season. Kobe being the warrior he is, I'm sure he will not miss the opportunity to get ring number five.

2- Mavericks: The Dallas Mavericks are always an underrated team in the west for no good reason. They have the second best record in the west right now and they have one of the best players in the world in Dirk Nowitzki. Jason Kidd is playing exceptional basketball for someone in their mid 30's and the Mav's have great support from Josh Howard and Jose Barea. Jason Terry brings huge contributions off the bench and is able to hit big shots late in the game. He is my favorite for the 6th man award. The Mav's are not a team to be taken lightly and they are capable of beating any team in the league if they play their best.

3- Spurs: The Spurs are a team of veterans and they are the decades best all around team for a reason. Tim Duncan has been an all-star for the past number of years and he is going to give you consistant basketball every night. Tony Parker is one of the quickest players in the league and has rediculous finishing ability in the lane. Manu Ginobili is going to keep hitting big shots and he is always able to step up when he needs to. With the addition of Richard Jefferson and George Hill this team is going to be very dangerous in the playoffs this year.

4- Nuggets: The Denver nuggets are in my opinion the most improved team in the league since the beginning of last season. Chauncey Billups has to be credited with a lot of this recent success, however, Carmelo Anthony is having an MVP caliber season and he does most of the heavy lifting for this team. Nene and Kenyon Martin are playing great post basketball. This team made a great run against the Lakers in the playoffs last season and I would expect them to be very hungry this year. The team is much improved from last season because they have had more time to adjust to the way Billups wants to operate the floor. Chauncey knows how to win championships because he did it with the Pistons a few years ago.