The NBA season begins on Oct. 30, and we’re going to be rolling out previews from today up until the season begins. Remember Yardwork? We’ll be having one of those during the hoops season, too. Just to whet your appetite: We’re obviously bullish on the stacked Celtics, not so much on overspending Orlando; out West, we’ve bought our tickets for the Sonics bandwagon (playoffs, baby!) and think Kobe and the Lakers miss out on the postseason.

Atlantic: Boston Celtics
Central: Chicago Bulls
Southeast: Miami Heat
Southwest: Dallas Mavericks
Northwest: Denver Nuggets

* Phoenix Suns – Though we’re making our NBA title pick tomorrow, here’s a hint: It’s Phoenix, if the Suns don’t trade Shawn Marion before the All-Star break. How can we make a title pick like that, with a caveat? It’s a blog, people! And it’s no fun to pick the Spurs again. Plus, don’t you know the Spurs don’t win titles in even years (99, 03, 05, 07)? Yes, we’re a bit worried about how the Suns stop/foul Tim Duncan in the playoffs … if you guessed Sean Marks, you’re wrong.

* Golden State – For this portion of the preview, we will direct you to this post, where all of your questions are answered. It is, without question, one of the most fascinating NBA posts we’ve ever seen, and if every blogger put forth this energy and displayed this kind of knowledge, the world would be a better place. Our only gripe is Brandan Wright. He can totally be better than Joe Smith. Also, this is helpful.

Los Angeles Lakers – We write about these guys enough, so we’ll keep this brief: Why should anything be different than last year’s 42-40 season? So they brought in Derek Fisher and let Smush Parker walk. And? Even if Vlad Rad stays off the snowboards, and Kwame Brown finally becomes a player, and Chris Mihm … shit, when we’ve got to mention Chris Mihm, you know the team has problems.

Sacramento Kings – The Mike Bibby injury tempted us to push them down into the cellar, but we’re feeling a Reef revival. Yup. Shareef Abdur-Rahim (still in the league!) will need to play more than 25 minutes a night, and he’ll have to attempt more shots … because somebody has to. It’s not like Kelvin Martin can jack 30 a night. Still … when your point guard situation is between Orien Greene and Quincy Douby for the next six weeks … yeah.

Los Angeles Clippers – NBA darlings two years ago, and now it’s back to the basement. Why? Elton Brand’s injury for starters. He’s likely lost for the season with a ruptured Achilles’ tendon. It looks like second-year player Paul Davis from Michigan State will start in place of Brand, forming the only white PF/C combo in the league with Chris Kaman. They have five point guards on the roster: old man Sam Cassell, oft-injured Shaun Livingston, great-in-college, ordinary-in-the-NBA Dan Dickau, Brevin Knight (who has made 13 three’s in 11 NBA seasons), and another white college phenom, rookie Jared Jordan from Marist. Thirty wins seems right.