NBA 2009-10 Season Predictions: Western Conference

Kobe Bryant and the Lakers are the favorites to take the West. (AP Images)"]

When making NBA betting predictions for the upcoming NBA season, the best place to start is who is going to win each conference.

In the West, the Los Angeles Lakers are the defending champs and once again the team to beat.

NBA futures odds have the Lakers as the heavy -150 favorites to win the West.

The main contenders to knock L.A. off will be the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, and maybe the Portland Trail Blazers.

San Antonio (+300) is always in the mix, but this year looks better than ever, since they have a great mix of veterans and youth.

Those teams that will be fighting it out for the remainder of the playoff spots will be the Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Hornets, Houston Rockets, and the much-improved Memphis Grizzlies.

The Utah Jazz are a hard one to predict. They could just as easily climb into the top tier or fall into the second group depending on injuries.

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