FanHouse NBA Previews

FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.

The Celtics are a good team. This is, by most accounts, an understatement.

Boston finished with a record of 62-20 last season, despite the fact that the heart and soul of its defense, Kevin Garnett, missed 22 of the team's final 26 games with a knee injury.

Garnett missed the playoffs as well, but that didn't stop the Celtics from taking the eventual Eastern Conference champions to seven games in the second round, before their title defense ended two rounds earlier than they had expected for most of the season.

FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.

It has become popular nowadays to take a movie or idea that was popular 20 years ago and revitalize it, tweaking it for a more modern touch, in order to attract both new and old audiences. It incorporates the base elements of the original and then features a modern "twist" in order to seem "hip."

In a lot of ways, that's the story of the 2009-10 Dallas Mavericks. They're not the same old Mavericks, but they're not the new Mavericks either.

Check out FanHouse's NBA Preview.

On Wednesday, we looked at the most compelling storylines in the Central, but what does it all mean? How will it all come together? Let's make some educated guesses, shall we?

First up, I'm going out on a limb playing it completely safe by saying Detroit wins the division. No, Joe Dumars didn't shake up the roster like he said he'd try to do, but let's not ignore that this is essentially the same team that won 59 games last season, second-most in the league and fourth-most in franchise history. To suggest they no longer have the firepower to win at least one more game than the Cavs, who won just 45 games last year, is ludicrous.

It's hard to believe now, but once upon a time the Central Division was a powerhouse. As recent as 2006 it sent all five of its teams to the playoffs, and in 2007 it featured the top three records in the East. But last year? Only two made it to the postseason, including the disappointing Cavs, who followed up their NBA Finals appearance by winning five fewer games than the season before and failing to score as many points as they gave up.

Can the Central regain its luster in 2008-09? Well, the Pistons are still the Pistons, which means their ticket to the postseason is already punched, and the Cavs are tagging along for the ride so long as LeBron James is around. The Bulls, Pacers and Bucks will still bring up the rear, but at least there's honest-to-goodness hope they're headed in the right direction after making a series of offseason moves. Let's take a look at the most compelling storylines.