WELL, FOLKS, it's crystal ball time again as Nostratymus gets the magical orb out of the cupboard and looks into the future.

Oh, and what do I see here? A black man winning the presidency of the US! Oops, already happened, sorry - better put this thing on fast-forward.

Okay, up to date now, told you it had been a while. All right, the NBA season has just tipped off and it is my duty to tell you which team will win it all this year so you can become as rich as a Stanford Superstar.

Now, per usual, things are very murky in the Western Conference where there are at least 10 teams with legitimate playoff ambitions and four with real shots for the NBA title.

The Los Angeles Lakers lead a cluttered field, which will beat itself up all season long. In no particular order, after Kobe and Co, are the upstarts New Orleans Hornets, Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trailblazers, Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors.

Chris Paul's Hornets, boosted by Celtics championship swingman James Posey, look the biggest danger to the LA crew, while the addition of the mercurial Ron Artest to Tracy McGrady and a hopefully fit Yao Ming fires the Rockets into contention. The Mavericks with a full year of Jason Kidd feeding Dirk Nowitzki are also likely to rebound (ho, ho, what a funny ball) from a, by their recent standards, poor 2007-08 season. The Jazz, led by Olympians Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer, will also be about the place but just may lack the depth of some of their rivals come playoff crunch time.

The Spurs and Suns will also be there in the post-season but they have two rosters that are starting to look old and may be in decline.

nuggets look to war

The Warriors, Blazers and Nuggets will probably be on the outside looking in come the playoffs.

Still, it's just too hard to go past the Lakers improving from the West again. Kobe, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, emerging guard Jordan Farmar and fit-again centre Andrew Bynum make the Lake crew too big and too deep to get by.

Out East, although the conference is getting stronger, there are really only a half dozen contenders for the big prize, led by defending champions the Green Machine - also known as the Boston Celtics.

The Toronto Raptors, Detroit Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers, Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic are the Celts biggest threats with Dwyane Wade's Miami Heat, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Atlanta Hawks are bidding to fill out the playoff roster.

The Raptors (Jermaine O'Neal), Pistons (Allen Iverson) and 76ers (Elton Brand) have all made significant additions while the Magic and Cavaliers boast all-world superstars in Dwight Howard and LeBron James respectively.

Is that enough to usurp Boston and its Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen? The ball thinks not.

So here we go again - another Lakers-Celtics showdown for the crown and the winner is - Boston again in six - wheee.

Later

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