Headlines to Watch: Northwest Division

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The opening locale for our NBA Preview tour hosts a championship contender ... unless you believe in Vegas, where two teams have odds of at least 18-to-1 to win the title. Bettors have Utah at 18-to-1 and Portland, ahem Portland at 12-to-1. Clearly, folks expect big things from the newborn Trail Blazers.

That brings us to our first topic: how good will Portland be? The Blazers caught much of the nation off-guard last year, with a long winning streak through the early winter keeping the team alive in the rough Western playoff race. Clearly, Portland overperformed based on common expectation. Is that even possible this year? Win or lose, the Blazers will likely get more attention than any other Northwest team this season. The burgeoning tomorrow promises excitement, and no one wants to miss out the introduction of greatness. No pressure, kids.All of this Portland yammering seems a bit unfair to Utah, who happens to have two straight deep playoff runs under its belt. Thanks to Chris Paul and Peja-on-a-stick (the greatest invention of the past five years), the world is enamored of the Hornets, and that's fine. But Utah is arguably a better, more established version of New Orleans: incredible young point guard (Deron Williams), bully All-Star post man (Carlos Boozer), wacky Euro wing man, curmudgeon coach, small town, mascot of questionable sanity. The stakes for Utah are so much higher than for Portland: the Jazz aren't old by any means, but with luxury tax pressure building and Boozer possibly fleeing ... the time is now. Can Utah break through to the Finals? Maybe no team but the Lakers should be favored more readily than Utah. Keeping an eye on the frizzy Jazz is an endeavor well worth your time this season.

Another Northwest team has more at stake than Utah, though: it seems like the end of the beginning for Denver. The Nuggets didn't really attempt to work out an extension for Allen Iverson this past summer, so The Answer will be a free agent in July. As such, and with Denver being so focused on cutting salary it released Marcus Camby for basically nothing this summer, the predominant trade expectation this year revolves around A.I. Carmelo Anthony, J.R. Smith and Linas Kleiza -- but mostly Carmelo Anthony -- are young and explosive. If the team isn't going to win with A.I. -- that sweep at the hands of the Lakers last April in mind -- then it's probably time for Denver to try another tact. It's a matter of figuring whether the Nuggets will hold a fire sale to rebuilding around 'Melo, or whether the team will hold out for a strong piece. A.I. cost an above-average point guard and two low first-round picks. With a shorter contract and two more years of mileage, the return will be smaller. Still, it seems vital than the Nuggets find something to help 'Melo in the next phase of Denver's existence. Beyond Smith, Kleiza and Nene Hilario, there remains little in the pantry.

Minnesota finished strong in '07-08, and by "strong" I mean the team did not tank. Big Al Jefferson went the full 82 and performed far better than most expected (though it's clear he needs help defending tall men). The guard play for the Wolves was simply atrocious as Randy Foye again delayed his arrival and the Sebastian Telfair/Marko Jaric combo provided little in the way of performance. '07 lottery pick Corey Brewer came out like a disaster on wheels, and Rashad McCants provided the only supplemental scoring punch. Enter Mike Miller and Kevin Love. Miller and, theoretically, Foye make the backcourt look thrice as good as the previous incarnation. Love isn't a dragon slayer, but can help on defense more than small but brawny Craig Smith and Ryan Gomes could. On paper, Minnesota doesn't look half bad. It's hard to be shocked in a positive way about what amounts to a 30-35 win team, but the Wolves might open enough eyes to get boosted as a 2009-10 sleeper pick in some (silly) corners.

Oklahoma City, however, is terrible. That roster is something out of a horror flick. Kevin Durant's illustrious and wonderful, yes. And Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green could spark some love. But really, this roster is tons of bad. Nick Collison is good, about league average for a big man -- a flawless rebounder and iffy scorer. Chris Wilcox's a smidge better. ... That's it: the three lottery picks, Nick Collison and Chris Wilcox. THAT IS IT. Absolutely brutal depth in the frontcourt, backcourt, wing positions. Assistant coach Scott Brooks could play for this team. The excitement in OKC won't wear off no matter how many losses pile up -- Thunder fans will be in heaven no matter how long the losing streak gets. And KD will win some games on his own, as he did a year ago. But wow, I don't envy P.J. Carlesimo one bit. It's a catastrophe everyone sees coming a mile away.

Other assorted headlines to watch:

* Will Portland fans stand in solidarity for Seattle by protesting in any way when the Thunder visit the Great Northwest? There have been no really exemplary ideas on how to express disappointment in the league's decision to allow Clay Bennett to sandbag the fans of the Emerald City, but if anyone can come up with something, it's those folks in PDX.

* Will Portland leap over Denver? We'll address this Tuesday in our predictions post. But common wisdom would tend to agree Portland's on the way up as Denver slides back to the pack. Will the shift be enough to flip spots?

* Greg Oden, Rudy Fernandez: R.O.Y. candidates? Oden might split preseason R.O.Y. votes with Michael Beasley, but Rudy could be ready to contribute scoring punch more readily. I'd say we know scoring beats even big-man contribution based on last year's results (Durant over Al Horford), but really that was all star power. That won't stop Rudy from making a half-dozen SportsCenter reels, of course.

* Durant's development should be watched by every serious fan. That doesn't mean you have to watch the piss-poor Thunder, just keep track of what Durant does and check in now and then. This kid's going to be amazing. Don't miss it.

* Boozer ended the '07-08 season poorly, had a lousy postseason and didn't play particularly amazing in Beijing. What gives? Utah certainly needs Boozer to play well to maintain the conference finals status quo, and needs him to be excellent to move up another step.

* Whether Minnesota will be relevant by 2015 has quite a bit to do with Foye. Has he even had one good pro game yet? If he doesn't work out this season, the Wolves are almost forced to start thinking point guard in the draft, especially with two potential cornerstones (Ricky Rubio and Brandon Jennings) expected to be on the board next June.

* Trade possibilities: A.I., Travis Outlaw, Channing Frye or Joel Pryzbilla (Frye's cheap, 'Billa is better), MiMi (could a 50-loss team turned down a prospect and a pick for a two-guard on the outer edge of his prime?), anyone in OKC not tied down with a chain, Andrei Kirilenko, Mehmet Okur, Steve Blake, Martell Webster.