It’s that time again! Today marks the start of the 2006-2007 NBA regular season. Here are my predictions and thoughts:

Eastern Conference

New Jersey
In a division with the underachieving Sixers and hapless Knicks, the Nets have little competition. Expect the Celtics to make it interesting but slip down the stretch.

Central Division – Cleveland
Without Ben Wallace, Detroit lacks the inside toughness to win the division. Wallace’s new home, Chicago, will enjoy another season of growth and improvement. Although the team will be more talented and confident, this will serve them well in the postseason rather than the first 82 games. With another record-setting season from Lebron James, the Cavs should win the division by 5 games.

Southeast Division – Miami
With the whole squad returning and Dwyane Wade still improving, Miami should run away with the division. The only question is if his body will break down after nearly 12 straight months of hoops.

Western Conference

Northwest Division – Denver
David Stern must be grinning ear to ear to know that his three young superstars will all enter the playoffs with the division championships in their back pockets.

Pacific Division – Phoenix
Without Amare Stoudamire, the Suns dominated their competition. With Stoudamire back, even at 80 percent, the Suns will compete with Dallas for the league’s best record. Expect Kobe’s Lakers to finish tied with the Clippers for second place and one of the final Western Conference playoff spots

Southwest – Dallas
Conventional wisdom says that the Mavericks will lose a little regular season ground now that they know they are the class of the Western Conference. The one catch is that Avery Johnson has never succumbed to conventional wisdom. While the Spurs won’t get hot until January, The Little General will have his Mavs in late season shape from start to finish.

Eastern Conference Champ – Miami
Lebron is still one year and two players away from the big dance. Dwyane Wade will outduel Lebron James  and Shaq will contribute his final drops of dominance in a spirited (and heavily marketed) conference final. Miami over Cleveland in 6.

Western Conference Champ – Dallas
Like last year, the real Western Conference Final will take place in the second round between Dallas and San Antonio. After that, expect Dallas to will its way past Phoenix in a tough series. Dallas over Phoenix in 6.

NBA Champion – Dallas
Recent NBA history suggests that winning consecutive championships is not an easy feat. Although Dwayne Wade will be just as heroic as last year, another deep playoff rundown will render Shaq ineffective by the middle of June.  That, combined with Dallas’ home court advantage, will make a second ring extremely unattainable. Dallas in 6

Awards

MVP – Lebron James
As long as Shaq is in Miami, Dwyane won’t win the MVP. As long as the Lakers aren’t legitimate contenders, Kobe won’t win. As long as Lebron’s Cavs win 55 games, the prize will go to King James. Runner up – Dirk Nowitzki

Coach of the Year
This is a tough call because many of the league’s best coaches have already won the award. Isaiah Thomas will get some sympathy for improving New York’s record. Fortunately, the experts will see through his smoke and mirrors and give the award to Jerry Sloan.

Defensive Player of the Year – Ben Wallace
Even though Ron Artest is the league’s best on-the-ball defender, this award tend to go to big men. Although he’s a year older and a step slower, no one can block shots, rebound, and intimidate like Ben Wallace.

Rookie of the Year – Randy Foye Runner up – Brandon Roy
Nowadays, draft picks are a crap shoot. So, I’m just guessing.

Most Improved – Darko Milicic
Although Detroit certainly regrets trading him, Orlando should be extremely happy to have Darko Milicic. With a team of strong young talent, Milicic should hit his stride and become the player he was meant to be: a solid role player who can complement Jameer Nelson and Dwight Howard.

Sixth Man – Jerry Stackhouse
As long as Dallas wins big, there no reason to think the Stack won’t put up big numbers and snatch the award from Andres Nocioni.

Random Thoughts

•    Since Larry Brown tanked last season to prove a point, Isaiah Thomas will probably look like a genius when the Knicks show a 12-15 game improvement.
•    If Steve Nash wins another MVP award, the NAACP must launch a full investigation and protest
•    With all the D-Wade/Lebron hype, everyone is forgetting that Kobe is the league’s best player. Expect him to tear the league a new one all year.
•    This will be Carmelo Anthony’s breakout year. In addition to having a strong regular season and making his first All Star appearance, expect him to gain much-due props in the media for his growing maturity.
•    Where the hell is Latrell Sprewell?
•    Like the players, I hate the fact that the league is using abandoning its traditional leather basketball. Still, all of the controversy about the new synthetic ball will subside by early 2007, when the players get adjusted to its slippery grip. Until then expect every high turnover or poor shooting game to be blamed on the rock.
•    Contrary to popular opinion Allen Iverson and Kevin Garnett will not be traded during the season. The Sixers are selling the team and need him as a selling point. The Timberwolves have too much faith in Randy Foye to give Garnett away right now. Remember what happened to T-Mac in Orlando? As soon as he left, Dwight Howard emerged as bona fide star.
•    Barring something extraordinary, Bob Hill will be fired before the end of the season. Dwayne Casey won’t be far behind. Doc River should definitely not make any new real estate deals in Boston.
•    Expect the Memphis Grizzlies to take a step back this year.
•    Detroit’s lackluster season will finally force them to appreciate Ben Wallace… and Larry Brown.
•    Grant Hill will play 50 games this year before breaking down and FINALLY retiring.
•    Chris Paul will prove that he’s the best pure point guard that the NBA has seen since Jason Kidd.