This year, we’re doing a division-by-division preview with quick-hitting analysis for every team in the league. If a franchise is a legitimate championship contender, I’ll focus on what stars have to line up for a title run. If a team is a playoff “also-ran,” I’ll identify the weaknesses that have to be shored up via trade, free agency or draft over the next couple of seasons to make it a contender. If a team is likely to miss the playoffs, I’ll take a look at the salary cap, and provide a blueprint for how the team should proceed in the near future to get back in the postseason. At the end of each divisional preview, I’ll provide some (random) thoughts for the fantasy hoopsters out there.

For each division, I’ll pick the order of finish. You’ll also see the team’s league-wide preseason rank in parenthesis.

Boston Celtics (5)
Normally, the return of a healthy Kevin Garnett would be enough to thrust the Celtics back to contender status, but with the way the rich got richer this summer in terms of talent, GM Danny Ainge knew he had to improve his team, so he went out and signed Rasheed Wallace to give the C’s another big body up front. If everyone is healthy, minutes are going to be a problem, as Glen Davis and Kendrick Perkins deserve to play, but one might get squeezed out by Garnett and Wallace. In the backcourt, the big question seems to be the overall attitude of Rajon Rondo, who is running out of time to sign an extension. It is unlikely that he and the Celtics will come to terms by the end of the month as the two sides are reportedly far apart in perceived value. Marquis Daniels was brought in to shore up the backcourt, so the Celtics will once again head into the season with a deep and talented roster. But can everyone stay healthy? If Garnett, Rondo, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are all feeling good come playoff time, the Celtics will be a serious threat to make the Finals.

Philadelphia 76ers (16)
Elton Brand’s season-ending injury but the kibosh on the Sixers’ title hopes last year. They still made the playoffs without him, and the truth is, he didn’t play all that well when he was healthy. He has appeared in a grand total of 37 games over the last two seasons, so his heath is one of the biggest challenges facing this team. After all, the franchise has plenty of talent to make the playoffs. The Sixers have the versatile Andre Iguodala, the up-and-coming Thaddeus Young, and a few nice prospects in Louis Williams, Marreese Speights and Jrue Holiday. Williams’ challenge is to replace the production of Andre Miller, who is now with the Blazers. Williams is more of a scoring guard than a playmaker, so it will be up to Iguodala to help distribute the ball. Given his fragility, the Sixers are probably regretting hitching their wagon to Brand, but it’s too late now. Like it or not, they will sink or swim for the next few years with the Brand-Iguodala-Young core.

Toronto Raptors (19)
Question: What was Toronto’s win total the last three years? Answer: 47, 41 and 33. In other words, the Raptors have been heading in the wrong direction, especially considering that they’re building around Chris Bosh (in his prime), Jose Calderon (in his prime) and Andrea Bargnani (entering his prime). Bosh becomes a free agent after the season, and odds are that he’s going to be wearing a different jersey next season. GM Bryan Colangelo knows that the best way to convince him to stay is to get the Raptors back in upper echelon in the East. To that end, he went out and signed Hedo Turkoglu, who made a last second decision to head to Toronto instead of Portland. The general consensus is that Turkoglu is a tad overrated, and considering he’s already 30 years old, one wonders how effective he’ll be in years three through five of his contract. Still, the Raptors had a hole at small forward and they filled it with a versatile player who can shoot, handle the ball and rebound. Colangelo also added Jarrett Jack in free agency, Amir Johnson via trade and DeMar DeRozan in the draft. With all the drama surrounding LeBron James and Dwyane Wade’s impending free agency, Bosh may be the most likely to change zip codes in the next year, so the Raptors will be an interesting team to watch this season. The playoffs are very much in reach, but it’s probably going to take a trip to the Eastern Conference semis to convince Bosh that the franchise is headed in the right direction.

New York Knicks (20)
In his first year with the team, Mike D’Antoni helped to make the Knicks somewhat competitive again. They won nine more games than the previous year, and drastically improved their ability to score. But heading into the 2009-10 season, the franchise is simply treading water, seemingly waiting for 2010 free agency. The team is building around…well…a player to be named later. The Knicks only have six contracts that extend past this season, and they’ll do their darndest to get rid of Eddy Curry ($11.3 M) and Jared Jeffries ($6.9 M) to give themselves as much cap space as possible next summer. As it stands, the Knicks are projected to have about $23 M in cap space, and they’d like to free up another $5 million so that they can afford to land two big-name free agents next summer. The weather isn’t as nice as Los Angeles or Miami, but the Big Apple is a very desirable destination for free agents looking to enhance their profile by playing on a big stage. So if there is one team that could pull a 180 and land a couple of superstars en route to instant title contention, it’s the Knicks. Keep an eye on the development of Jordan Hill and Brandon Jennings. The 2009 Draft had a ton of good point guard prospects, and the Knicks failed to find their PG of the future, instead drafting a power forward, which was already a position of strength (David Lee). If Jennings blows up and Hill struggles, GM Donnie Walsh will likely come under fire. Then again, if he can land LeBron and Chris Bosh, nary a Knick fan will care.

New Jersey Nets (27)
Think about it – is there a team better primed for a run at LeBron James or Dwyane Wade than the Nets? It looks like they are headed to Brooklyn, they already have an All-Star on the roster (Devin Harris), another one in the making (Brook Lopez) and a ton of cap space (~$20 million) next summer. The Bulls might have the edge with Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, Kirk Hinrich and Joakim Noah, but it’s close. The Nets created all of this cap space by trading away Vince Carter, but managed to get the up-and-coming Courtney Lee in the deal, so it wasn’t a true salary dump. Even if the Nets miss out on LeBron and Wade, they wouldn’t be a bad landing spot for the next tier of free agents: Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Joe Johnson and Carlos Boozer. Since they are set at point guard and center (two tough positions to fill), the Nets have some flexibility heading into the summer of 2010. This year? They’re going to be bad, but look for Lopez to make a leap as the team uses him more and more to facilitate the offense.

Fantasy Thoughts: Wilson Chandler is currently going in the 9th or 10th round, but is a nice guy to have on your roster. In roto leagues, he’s a decent source of steals and threes, while also scoring and rebounding pretty well for a small forward…David Lee is a fringe first round talent, but he’s going in the middle of the third. Don’t be afraid to pull the trigger in the late second or early third. He should be a double-double machine once again in another contract year…Brook Lopez averaged 13/8 last season in 31 minutes. In the preseason, he’s averaging 16/8 in 30 minutes, and isn’t shooting the ball particularly well. Since he’s likely to top 50% from the field and average 33-35 minutes a game, a 17/10 season is not out of the question…Chris Douglas-Roberts and Courtney Lee are battling to be the starting shooting guard for the Nets, but Lawrence Frank may end up playing them together since Terrence Williams is the next best option on the wing…Despite a substandard preseason, expect Jose Calderon to finish in the top 10 amongst point guards again this season. He is too good of a shooter and playmaker to be held down for long…Louis Williams may end up averaging the fewest assists amongst starting point guards, but he can score. He’s currently the PG26 in live drafts, which seems about right…Marreese Speights would be a good handcuff for Elton Brand. The second-year player is averaging 13.7 points and 8.4 rebounds in 21.6 preseason minutes…Not only are Rasheed Wallace’s numbers likely to take a hit now that he’s playing for the balanced Celtics, he will also have a negative impact on Kendrick Perkins and Glen Davis.

This year, we’re doing a division-by-division preview with quick-hitting analysis for every team in the league. If a franchise is a legitimate championship contender, I’ll focus on what stars have to line up for a title run. If a team is a playoff “also-ran,” I’ll identify the weaknesses that have to be shored up via trade, free agency or draft over the next couple of seasons to make it a contender. If a team is likely to miss the playoffs, I’ll take a look at the salary cap, and provide a blueprint for how the team should proceed in the near future to get back in the postseason. At the end of each divisional preview, I’ll provide some (random) thoughts for the fantasy hoopsters out there.

For each division, I’ll pick the order of finish. You’ll also see the team’s league-wide preseason rank in parenthesis. Be sure to check back on Saturday for the preview of the Atlantic Division.

Cleveland Cavaliers (2)
By now, everyone knows that LeBron James is set to become a free agent next summer. Feeling the proverbial heat, the Cavs swung a trade for Shaquille O’Neal hoping that he’ll be able to put the team over the top. It would be tough for LeBron to justify bolting Cleveland if the franchise is coming off of a championship, so the Cavs are “all in.” In addition to acquiring Shaq, they signed Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon and re-upped with Anderson Varejao. It might take some time for this roster to gel, but there’s no doubt that the Cavs have enough talent to go the distance. While making the transition from a declining Zydrunas Ilgauskas to a declining Shaq has its advantages, it’s going to be tough for LeBron to find driving lanes with Shaq and Varejao clogging the lane. Neither can shoot the ball effectively outside of 10 feet, so their defenders will be better able to get to the paint to help on LeBron. Look for the Cavs to run a lot of pick-and-rolls with LeBron and Shaq, which will force Shaq’s defender away from the basket. This should help, but there still is the matter of Varejao’s man defending the basket. It’s crucial that the Cavs get good shooting from Parker, Mo Williams, Delonte West and Daniel Gibson. Those players have to make the defense pay when it sags to help on LeBron. From a salary cap perspective, the Cavs realized that it wouldn’t do any good to have cap space if the payroll number keeps falling, and the Varejao signing ate up whatever space they would have otherwise had. In the unlikely event that Shaq turns out to be a complete disaster, they could always move him before the trade deadline in a last-ditch attempt to retool before the playoffs. For obvious reasons, of all the teams in the league, the Cavs may have the most riding on the 2009-10 season.

Chicago Bulls (11)
The young Bulls gave the KG-less Celtics a great run in last year’s playoffs, and with Derrick Rose looking like the real deal, Chicago is a franchise on the rise. They let Ben Gordon walk this summer, but the return of Luol Deng and the emergence of John Salmons should offset the loss of Gordon’s scoring. The Bulls will likely start Rose and Salmons in the backcourt, with Deng and the up-and-coming Tyrus Thomas framing Joakim Noah on the front line. This gives the team an experienced bench that includes Kirk Hinrich, Brad Miller and Jannero Pargo alongside rookies Taj Gibson and James Johnson. The Bulls are still missing a strong post presence and are probably too inexperienced to upset a healthy Cavs, Celtics or Magic squad in a seven-game playoff series, but Chicago looks like they’ll battle with the Hawks for that #4 seed in the postseason. Financially, the Bulls are expected to have about $13 million in cap space heading into next summer, so they are a real threat to coax Dwyane Wade back to his hometown. D-Wade would look real nice in a backcourt with Rose.

Detroit Pistons (18)
GM Joe Dumars changed the course of the franchise when he traded Chauncey Billups to the Nuggets for Allen Iverson. For a time, it looked like he was going to save the resulting cap space for next summer and make a run at one of the big-name free agents that will be available. Instead, he elected to spend it this summer, giving Ben Gordon a big deal (five years, $58 million) and investing heavily in Charlie Villanueva (five years, $38 million). The problem with these two players is that each has a reputation for being defensive liabilities. Dumars has proven that a team without a superstar can win a title, but those Pistons had a few players on the rise (Billups, Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince, who could all defend) alongside a talented vet (Rasheed Wallace) and a defensive stud (Ben Wallace). Then there’s the issue of Hamilton, who still has four years left on his deal. This means that two of the team’s three-highest players play the same position. That doesn’t usually work. Finally, there’s Rodney Stuckey, whose reputation has exceeded his on-court performance thus far. His presence prompted the Billups-for-AI swap and he needs to raise his game if the Pistons are to be anything more than a postseason also-ran in 2010.

Indiana Pacers (21)
The Pacers have been mired in the 35-36 win range for the last three seasons and don’t seem primed to break out of that rut this year. Danny Granger has blossomed into a star, but he doesn’t have a whole lot of help. T.J. Ford, Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy are nice complementary players, but Granger needs a sidekick or two. The Pacers’ biggest offseason acquisitions were Dahntay Jones, who is a good defender, and Tyler Hansbrough, who will probably be a better NBA player than most people think. In short, the Pacers didn’t do much this summer to improve. The good news is that the team has Granger locked up for five years in a reasonable contract and they’ll have a ton of cap space (~$27 million?) in the summer of 2011 to use to build around him. The last few playoff spots in the East are always up for grabs, and it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Pacers will stay healthy enough to post a 41-41 record and sneak into that #7 or #8 spot. But don’t hold your breath.

Milwaukee Bucks (24)
It’s hard to argue that the Bucks improved this offseason. They gave Richard Jefferson to the Spurs in a salary dump and let Charlie Villanueva and Ramon Sessions walk in restricted free agency with no compensation. GM John Hammond’s position is that the Bucks were not good enough to justify their luxury tax payroll, so tough choices had to be made so that they could gain the financial flexibility to make important acquisitions down the line. Once he drafted Brandon Jennings, the writing was on the wall for the up-and-coming Sessions, who eventually signed with the T-Woves after a long flirtation with the Knicks. He went on to sign Hakim Warrick to an affordable one-year deal that may backfire if Warrick earns a starting spot and wants a big contract next summer. If things go perfectly – Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut stay healthy, Jennings makes the All-Rookie Team, and the Bucks get good play from their bench – it’s not difficult to see the Bucks in the playoffs. But given how riddled this team has been with injuries the last few years, the postseason seems like a long shot. Redd has one more season left on his deal, so the Bucks will have considerable cap space (~$20 million) in the summer of 2011 to build around Bogut and (probably) Jennings. Until then, they’re just going to have to make do.

Fantasy Thoughts: Troy Murphy averaged a double-double last season, and should once again post good numbers even with rookie Tyler Hansbrough stealing some minutes at power forward. Murphy is one of those guys that is far better in fantasy circles than he is in real life because his game (rebounding, accurate shooting) translates well statistically…Hakim Warrick is leading the Bucks in scoring in the preseason and there are minutes available at forward if he can prove to Scott Skiles that he’s willing to play defense. I’d also expect Brandon Jennings to usurp Luke Ridnour as the starting PG. He isn’t going to shoot a high percentage, but he’ll get to the line and rack up the assists…Will Bynum has played really well in the preseason, and he’s pushing Rodney Stuckey for minutes. Don’t be surprised if he rotates in and sees 20-25 minutes per game…Tyrus Thomas is a popular breakout candidate and if he sees starter’s minutes, he should have a very nice year. Many fantasy hoopsters are predicting the fall of John Salmons, but even with Luol Deng’s return, there are still some shots that Ben Gordon left behind. I wouldn’t expect 18 ppg again, but an efficient 15-16p/4r/2a seems reasonable, making him a nice value in the 6th or 7th round in 12-team formats…If Delonte West can’t keep his head on straight, Anthony Parker is going to have every opportunity to become the Cavs’ starting shooting guard. J.J. Hickson could break out, but is still playing behind Anderson Varejao.

Want more? We’ve got you covered. Our team-by-team preview breaks down each franchise’s offseason movement and outlook, along with a player (or situation) to keep your eye on. We also ask “The Big Question” that is haunting each team as it enters the season.

For the last two weeks, We’ve been previewing each team from #30 to #1, posting three team previews per business day, starting with the league’s bottom feeders – we’re looking at you, Thunder – and finishing up with the cream of the crop. So who will be #1? The Lakers? The Celtics? Or will there be a surprise at the top of our preseason power rankings?

Click here to see the entire preview.

Check out our NBA Preview page for a look at every team. We’ll be posting three previews per business day, which will take us up to the start of the season on Tuesday, October 28th.