The conference semifinals are upon us — where does everyone stack up? I’ll also give a brief offseason blueprint for the teams that have been eliminated.

R.I.P.

16. Pistons
Click here for my brief offseason blueprint for the team that traded Chauncey Billups away.

15. Heat
One look at Miami’s salary cap situation reveals that the Shawn Marion-for-Jermaine O’Neal trade pretty much locked in the current roster for another season. Until O’Neal’s salary comes off the books, the Heat won’t have any real cap flexibility to make a signing. Next summer, when Dwyane Wade becomes a free agent, the Heat should have the cap space to re-sign their star and sign another big-name player. For a long time, the rumor was that they were going to go after Carlos Boozer, but the team sees Michael Beasley as the future at power forward, so the team will be looking for a long term upgrade at center, point guard and maybe small forward once they have the freedom to make some moves.

14. Sixers
Elton Brand’s injury threw a wrench into Philly’s plan to contend for a title this season but the truth is that it wasn’t really working out when he was healthy. The Sixers are stuck with Brand and his monster contract now, so they have to hope that he can get back to his All-Star status. Philly’s big decision this offseason is whether or not to re-sign Andre Miller, who is getting a little long in the tooth but is still playing at a high level. If the team sees Lou Williams as the heir apparent, they can let Miller go and roll the dice, but if he’s not, the wise thing to do would be to re-sign Miller to a shorter deal (two years?) and draft his replacement this summer.

13. Hornets
Click here to read my offseason blueprint for the Hornets.

12. Bulls
Chicago struck gold when they won the lottery and landed ROY Derrick Rose with the #1 overall pick. He still has a lot to learn (especially about not turning the ball over in crucial situations), but he’s clearly a “franchise” point guard in a league that is becoming increasingly dependent on its point guards. Ben Gordon will be a free agent, and although the team really leaned on him for its scoring, his (lack of) defense makes him expendable. With the return of Luol Deng and the emergence of John Salmons as a serious scoring threat, the team could move Salmons to off guard to make way for Deng to start at small forward. The rest of the roster — Tyrus Thomas at power forward, Joakim Noah at center, Kirk Hinrich and Brad Miller off the bench — would remain unchanged. They could use some post scoring, but it’s unlikely anyone strong in that area will be available at the mid-level, but you never know. The Bulls head into next season as a favorite to finish in the top four or five in the East.

11. Jazz
Click here to see my offseason blueprint for the Jazz.

10. Blazers
Portland’s performance against the Rockets was a bit of a disappointment. The Blazers had a nice season, but they lacked the toughness to get by Ron Artest and Co. The entire core is under contract next year, but Portland will be one of the few teams with significant cap space this summer. If team owner Paul Allen wants to build a winner, now’s the time to do it. He has two young stars in Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge that won’t see significant pay raises until the 2011-12 season, so the team can make a serious splash in free agency this summer or next. The team’s biggest need appears to be at point guard, where Steve Blake has just been adequate, though don’t rule out the addition of a talented big man like Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire.

9. Spurs
Click here for my offseason blueprint for the Spurs.

STILL ALIVE

8. Hawks
7. Mavs
6. Celtics
The Hawks might make things interesting in their series with the Cavs since they play really well at home, but the team’s road playoff struggles make them a long shot to put LeBron’s title hopes in serious jeopardy. They have the athletes, but they need to play near-perfect basketball to push the Cavs to seven games.

Meanwhile, the big question in the Orlando/Boston series is whether or not the C’s will be worn out after their epic series with the Bulls. Dwight Howard is going to cause fits down low and if Kendrick Perkins gets into early foul trouble, the Celtics won’t have an answer for him. Both teams are missing a key player (Kevin Garnett for the C’s, Jameer Nelson for the Magic), so it’s a fairly even series, though Orlando should have the edge since they have home court.

The Mavs are already down 0-1 after dropping Game 1 to the Nuggets, who appear to be on a roll.

ROAD BLOCKS (FOR THE LAKERS/CAVS)

5. Magic
4. Rockets
3. Nuggets
I don’t have a lot of confidence in Orlando’s chances of slowing down LeBron and Co. if they are able to get past the Celtics. Meanwhile, in the West, the Rockets and Nuggets look capable of pushing the Lakers to six or seven games if L.A. doesn’t bring its A-game. I’d expect Kobe to be extremely focused after Ron Artest said that he (and LeBron) weren’t as good as Brandon Roy.

DESTINED FOR THE FINALS

2. Cavs
1. Lakers
Given their (lack of) competition, I think the Cavs are the surer bet to make the Finals, but if the seemingly inevitable Lakers/Cavs matchup happens, I still give L.A. the edge due to their advantage during the two season meetings and Kobe’s stronger supporting cast.