NBA Nba Preseason

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Tuesday, there are zero days remaining!

LeBron James is the most important player in the NBA -- both on and off the court.

He's already one of the all-time greats at age 24, and as the reigning MVP, he puts up the type of numbers you'd expect to see only in a video game. And you know what's really scary? No one knows just how good he can actually be.

FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.

Two of the most frequent questions through this Player to Watch series have been "Is he real?" and "Is he back?" That stands to reason: so many teams rely on internal improvement, especially with the league's financial situation restarting a leaguewide thaw on superstar trades (Shaquille O'Neal aside). Fans need to know whether they can count on improving players to keep on going, and whether injured stars can be expected to return to form.

You'd think Magic point guard Jameer Nelson would be facing the latter query -- has Jam's separated shoulder healed well enough to recreate Orlando's awesome starting five? But to me the real question is whether the pre-injury Nelson was even real, or just a short-lived mirage of elite play ready to fall back to Earth.

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

ORLANDO – It wasn't Stan Van Gundy, or any of his assistants, who stopped Orlando Magic practice Friday morning to make a coaching point, correcting newly-acquired power forward Brandon Bass and making sure he understood clearly his defensive assignment on a particular play.

It was center Dwight Howard. Coach Stan Van Gundy just stood back and nodded his approval. He liked what was happening.

"Our returning guys are taking more of a leadership role, trying to make sure everyone is on the same page, and that's our biggest challenge right now,'' Van Gundy said. "We're putting a lot of new pieces together.''

FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.

You have to know it killed me to dub Andrew Bynum, a Laker, as the league's 24th best player in advance of the 2008-09 season. As a Kings fan, I should have aligned myself with all the "prove it for more than 30 games" chaps who tried to convince me Bynum, surrounded by stars, played over his head during the abbreviated 2007-08 campaign.

Bynum's muted (but still effective) 2008-09 season served as relief for my Royal Purple heart, but confusion for my rational, "this kid's a beast!" mind. Until, of course, I checked the end-of-season numbers, where -- according to John Hollinger's PER -- Bynum finished the year as the league's 24th best player. Hmph.

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

The Lakers are coming off of a championship season, and are the favorites to take home the title again in 2010. But with the virtual trade of Trevor Ariza for Ron Artest, along with the media circus created by Lamar Odom's whirlwind marriage to a reality television personality, they've certainly inserted enough wild cards into their stacked deck to make even the most die-hard of fans question the team's ability to repeat as champions.

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DENVER -- If you Google Gunnar Peterson, you get articles such as "How Kim Kardashian Got Thin'' and "Want J. Lo's Body?''

But what about Melo's body?

Kardashian proudly notes she dropped from 128 to 113 pounds thanks to Peterson, the Beverly Hills, Calif., celebrity trainer. Meanwhile, Denver forward Carmelo Anthony says he dropped from 240 to 228 with the help of Peterson.

But Kardashian isn't leading all NBA players in the preseason in scoring. Neither is Jennifer Lopez.

FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.

The market on Jamario Moon has been all over the place since he arrived in the NBA from various minor leagues and the D-League. At the tender age of 27, he was a Rookie of the Year candidate in 2007. Then he was a struggling sophomore at 28. He was traded to Miami and seemed to be a favorite target for Dwyane Wade for halfcourt alley-oops. But injury and a lack of cohesiveness with the Miami offense led to frustrations along with the Heat's first-round exit at the hands of the Hawks.

And now, four years after playing for the Arkansas RimRockers, a D-League team no longer in existence, Jamario Moon finds himself the reserve for a King.

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

Cool things happen when a team trades for a center who has at least one MVP trophy on his mantel.

Wilt Chamberlain got traded, and won a championship. He was traded again, and won another title.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was dealt, and won five more crowns.

Bob McAdoo got traded, and later won two rings.

Bill Walton was shipped away, and eventually got another title.

Moses Malone was traded. You guessed it. He won a championship.

Shaquille O'Neal was dealt. He won a ring to add to the three already on his fingers.

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FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.

It would be facile and possibly inaccurate to anoint Manu Ginobili as the most important comeback player of the 2009-10 season. After all, the success of the Wizards and Timberwolves surely depend on the health of Gilbert Arenas and Al Jefferson respectively more than the Spurs depend on Ginobili.

But -- while I would never endorse a bias of hype toward the greatest teams in the league -- it should be noted that Gil isn't going to take D.C. to parade level, and even Big Al won't land the Pups in the playoffs. Ginobili, though, could plausibly push his Spurs to the very top of the league. If Manu feels right, this is a legit championship team.

So, does Manu feel right?

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

Brothers and sisters, repent your sins. Cry unto the Lord that he will be merciful and spare you rebounds and point differential. Lo, the Spurrian nightmare has indeed returned, and the Earth will quake when they cry vengeance.

That's a fancy way of saying, "Dude, the Spurs are really good -- again. Check yourself."

Looking at how the Spurs responded from their most embarrassing playoff exit since the turn of the century is inspiring. To see a team's owner commit to paying the luxury tax in a massive economic downturn is impressive. To see a management group aggressively pursue a multi-positional upgrade through trading older established assets is what every team's fans want to see. And to see a team take a flyer on a player passed up by every other league thanks to injuries makes you happy to watch basketball be played.

It's also downright terrifying.