The Western Conference may not be as strong top-to-bottom as in past seasons, but at the peak it’s as strong as ever. The state of Texas alone offers up what may be the three best teams in basketball, sporting the defending champion Spurs, the 67-win Mavericks, and the hugely improved Houston Rockets.

That division isn’t the lone source of contenders, however, as the Phoenix Suns come off a 62-win season and are still brooding over the playoff suspensions to Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw that may have cost them the series against San Antonio. In the Northwest Division, Utah and Denver also figure to be in the mix, though each team seems one player away at the moment.

It’s almost inconceivable that the conference champion would come from outside those six teams. Among the others, the biggest drama is likely to be in Los Angeles, where Kobe Bryant’s trade saga continues, and Seattle, where rookie Kevin Durant seems ready to take the league by storm. Here’s how the 15 teams size up:

SOUTHWEST DIVISION

HOUSTON ROCKETS

STRENGTH: Depth. Hard to believe I’m typing this after watching them lose to Utah in last year’s playoffs with Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady essentially playing 2-on-5. But the additions of Mike James, Steve Francis, Luis Scola, and Aaron Brooks, along with Bonzi Wells’s return to the reservation, mean that Houston’s two All-Stars will have a lot more options.

WEAKNESS: Point guard. Houston has a lot of guard candidates, but it remains to be seen if any one of them can make a difference. James is a poor defender and his shoot-first mentality can cause problems; Alston, last year’s starter, was found wanting in the playoffs, and Francis will start the year out of the rotation after a rough preseason.

X-FACTOR: Wells. He had a huge year under new coach Rick Adelman two years ago in Sacramento, leaving hopes high that he can provide a repeat performance for the Rockets. His post game can give the second unit a muchneeded lift and take some heat off T-Mac and Yao, but he has to be in shape and embrace the team concept.

Predicted Record: 61–21

SAN ANTONIO SPURS

STRENGTH: Defense. Call them boring, but the fact is nobody can score on these guys, and that’s why they’ve won three of the past five championships. Tim Duncan is the centerpiece, using his long arms and timing to block shots while never putting himself out of position, while perimeter pest Bruce Bowen continually frustrates A-list scorers.

WEAKNESS: Age on the wings. If the Spurs are going to fall short, the advancing age of their wing players is the likely culprit. Bowen is 36, Michael Finley 34, and Brent Barry 35. Even Manu Ginobili, the spring chicken of the bunch at 30, is at risk for decline considering how much punishment he takes on his wild forays to the basket.

X-FACTOR: Matt Bonner. I’m reaching here, but cut me some slack: It’s tough to find an X-Factor when a defending champion brings back its entire roster intact. But Bonner, who hardly played last year, could end up being a key because 37-year-old Robert Horry seemed to lose his mojo last year. This dude can knock down 3s, too.

Predicted Record: 59–23

DALLAS MAVERICKS

STRENGTH: One-on-one play. The Mavs are incredible at isolating their scorers against weak defenders and letting them go to town. Dirk Nowitzki is the best, riding his patented foul-line isolation to last year’s MVP award, but guards Jerry Stackhouse, Josh Howard, Jason Terry, and Devin Harris excel here as well.

WEAKNESS: Post offense. The Mavs don’t have a single quality low-post scorer, a weakness that became glaringly obvious in the shocking first-round loss to a smaller Golden State team a year ago. Nowitzki supposedly improved this over the summer, while newcomer Brandon Bass had a strong preseason, but there’s still not a lot here.

X-FACTOR: Devin Harris. Most of the Mavs are in their prime or starting the downslope, but Harris is 24 and still making strides. He’s arguably the best defensive guard in basketball, and at the offensive end his burst of speed lets him get in the paint easily. But to date he hasn’t shown the jump shot or decision-making to go with it.

Predicted Record: 58–24

NEW ORLEANS HORNETS

STRENGTH: Outside shooting. The return of sharpshooter Peja Stojakovic from back surgery instantly creates more space for everyone else, and off guard Morris Peterson can also stroke it. Throw in a sweet midrange shooter in power forward David West and a long-range threat off the pine in Rasual Butler, and the Hornets can rain from outside.

WEAKNESS: Post offense. If New Orleans has problems offensively, it will be because they’re shooting 20-footers all night. Center Tyson Chandler has no post game at all, West only hurts opponents down low if he gets a switch against a guard, and the wings have no post game at all. That puts too much pressure on point guard Chris Paul to create.

X-FACTOR: Julian Wright. Nobody really knows what the rookie from Kansas will look like as a pro, but his ability to handle the ball and create for others might really help take some heat off Paul. But he’ll need to show he can hit from 15 feet and avoid turnovers, two things that were question marks on draft day.

Predicted Record: 39–43

MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES

STRENGTH: Speed. With the addition of rookie point guard Mike Conley and the return of second-year pro Kyle Lowry from injury, the Grizzlies will fly up and down the court. Wings Rudy Gay and Tarence Kinsey can finish with a flourish, while big men Pau Gasol, Hakim Warrick, and Stromile Swift can score in transition, too.

WEAKNESS: Defense. The Grizzlies were a horrible defensive team a year ago, and new coach Marc Iavaroni will have his hands full improving them. The problems are most acute up front, where Gasol, Warrick, and Swift all have the same issue — they’re about 20 pounds too light and get pushed around all night.

X-FACTOR: Darko Milicic. The free-agent pickup is the one guy who could really improve Memphis’s interior defense, because he’s a top-notch shot-blocker who has the size to battle against the league’s biggest centers in the post. But nobody’s sure what’s going on in his head — Milicic rarely played hard last season and his lethargy made him much less effective than his size and skills would indicate.

Predicted Record: 34–48

NORTHWEST DIVISION

DENVER NUGGETS

STRENGTH: Frontcourt. Yes, having Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson is nice, but having this front line might be even better. With Kenyon Martin looking fully recovered from knee surgery and Nene emerging as a topnotch power forward, Denver suddenly looks to have a fairly awesome trio with those two and Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Camby.

WEAKNESS: Outside shooting. The Nuggets have needed an ace shooter for years to space things for their two start scorers, but have failed to find an answer. Off-season pickup Chucky Atkins tore a groin and will miss two months or so, while J.R. Smith — the best pure shooter of the bunch — has fallen out of favor thanks to his immaturity.

X-FACTOR: Smith. I tend to refer to the Nuggets as one player away from being a legitimate title contender, but that player may be on their own roster. Smith has been such a knucklehead that it’s hard to imagine him straightening out for an entire season, but there’s no question that his long-range shooting and open-court scoring add a missing dimension.

Predicted Record: 53–29

UTAH JAZZ

STRENGTH: Interior scoring. The Jazz overpower opponents with their lowpost game. Carlos Boozer is the main weapon, but Utah wears down opponents by running a motion offense to get shots in the paint for the likes of Matt Harpring, Andrei Kirilenko, Mehmet Okur, and Paul Millsap, and point guard Deron Williams always gets it to the right spot.

WEAKNESS: Defense. Though Kirilenko is a fearsome shot-blocker when he isn’t making trade demands, the Jazz overall aren’t a championship-caliber defensive team. Neither Boozer nor Okur can defend the rim and they’re both mediocre from the help side, while key reserves Harpring and Gordan Giricek are more flammable than kerosene.

X-FACTOR: Ronnie Brewer. With Derek Fisher’s negotiated departure to L.A., it’s up to the second-year pro to take over the starting shooting guard spot. If he can make a few jumpers, he has the rest of the game to do it. Brewer has superb quickness, can handle the ball and finish around the basket, and showed lots of defensive promise as a rookie.

Predicted Record: 50–32

SEATTLE SUPERSONICS

STRENGTH: Depth. For a team that spent the summer blowing up its roster, the Sonics are impressively deep. They go at least two deep at every position, with solid players like Earl Watson, Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak, Kurt Thomas, and Nick Collison appearing to be the team’s second unit to start the season.

WEAKNESS: Defense. The Sonics have been a bad defensive team for ages and don’t figure to get much better this year. Importing a GM (Sam Presti) and coach (P.J. Carlesimo) from San Antonio might change the mindset, but it won’t change the talent — most of which consists of offense-first guys who lack stopper skills.

X-FACTOR: Kevin Durant. If this guy is as good as I suspect he might be, the Sonics could make a run at a playoff berth even with a blown-up roster and no secondary stars. Durant’s numbers from his one college season at Texas are eye-popping, and it will be a shocking upset if he doesn’t win the Rookie of the Year award.

Predicted Record: 35–47

PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS

STRENGTH: Young talent. Even with top overall pick Greg Oden being out for the season following knee surgery, Portland’s talent cupboard spills over. The best are reigning Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy and emerging power forward LaMarcus Aldridge, but the Blazer roster has eight first-round picks who are 24 or younger, plus two more stashed away in Europe.

WEAKNESS: Scoring. The Blazers were a bad offensive team a year ago, and trading go-to post scorer Zach Randolph to the Knicks isn’t going to make them any better. Roy and Aldridge will have to carry a major load because most of the Blazers’ young charges aren’t ready to be shot-creators at this level.

X-FACTOR: The small forwards. Almost anybody on this roster could be an X-Factor, but small forward is the most troublesome spot. Third-year pro Martell Webster will be the opening day starter, but I’m dubious that he can keep the job for long. Athletic but erratic Travis Outlaw is waiting in the wings and certainly has breakout potential.

Predicted Record: 26–56

MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES

STRENGTH: Strength. Physically, this is a fairly imposing team. The trade of Kevin Garnett puts the pressure on newly arrived forward Al Jefferson to deliver the goods down low, where he can overwhelm opponents with his size and touch. Joining him are several other wide-bodies — second-year pro Craig Smith is the most talented, but Michael Doleac, Mark Madsen, and rookie Chris Richard also provide serious beef.

WEAKNESS: Being run by idiots. For as long as the blundering Kevin McHale is in charge, what happens on the floor for the Timberwolves is borderline irrelevant. His horrendous drafts and continued insistence on overpaying his own players are what forced the Garnett trade in the first place; that he’s still in charge is jaw-dropping.

X-FACTOR: Sebastian Telfair. Remember him? Three years ago he was the local kid who became the first high school point guard taken in the first round. Now he’s a backup on the worst team in the league. But Telfair is only 22 and still has serious talent; he just has to get his head on straight and start passing the ball more.

Predicted Record: 20–62

PACIFIC DIVISION

PHOENIX SUNS

STRENGTH: Offense. Duh. The combo of Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, Shawn Marion, Leandro Barbosa, and Grant Hill is as awesome in real life as it looks on paper, as the Nash-era Suns are quite possibly the best offensive team of all time. Last year, they led the league in scoring, field-goal shooting, free-throw shooting, and 3-point percentage.

WEAKNESS: Interior defense. The trade of Kurt Thomas to Seattle means that Stoudemire has to rise to the challenge of defending A-list post players like Tim Duncan and Yao Ming — a challenge he hasn’t exactly embraced in the past. There’s no Plan B here — the Suns will play small and run like crazy, and hope Amare can provide some resistance.

X-FACTOR: Boris Diaw. The Most Improved Player in 2005-06, he showed up out of shape and had a disappointing 2006-07. With the injury-prone Hill likely to miss time, and a short bench, he has to be better. At his best, he can be a matchup nightmare with his ability to defend post players at one end and play “point forward” at the other.

Predicted Record: 54–28

LOS ANGELES LAKERS

STRENGTH: Frontcourt depth. The Lakers are generally perceived as Kobe Bryant and 11 nobodies, but they have an impressive array of bodies up front. Twenty-year-old 7-footer Andrew Bynum is the most talented of the bunch; behind him, Chris Mihm and forward Kwame Brown return from injury, and high-energy Ronny Turiaf and sharpshooters Brian Cook and Vladimir Radmanovic lie in wait.

WEAKNESS: Point guard. Derek Fisher was a nice addition, but the veteran guard struggled in Utah last season and at 33 he isn’t getting quicker. The backups offer little encouragement: Javaris Crittenton has potential but is probably two years away, Sasha Vujacic is overmatched, and Jordan Farmar had a rough rookie season last year.

X-FACTOR: Kobe Bryant. Will they trade him? If so, this prediction isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. The Lakers have had some talks with the Bulls and the Wizards, but with Kobe being their box-office mealticket and the Lakers holding his rights for two more years, don’t expect a deal unless they’re bowled over.

Predicted Record: 43–39

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS

STRENGTH: Versatility. The Warriors can mix and match lineups as well as anyone, because seemingly everyone on the team is between 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-8 and can isolate against bigger players one-on-one. Coach Don Nelson will play five small guys together if he thinks they’re running well, and it makes Golden State one of the league’s most difficult teams to guard.

WEAKNESS: Interior defense. The Warriors’ second-round defeat against Utah offered a glaring example of their shortcomings. Nobody can defend the post, and other than center Andris Biedrins, nobody blocks shots or rebounds. The hope is that rookie big men Brandan Wright and Kosta Perovic can fix some of that, but don’t hold your breath.

X-FACTOR: Baron Davis. Which Davis will they get this year? When he came back from injury last year the team hit another gear, roaring down the stretch and stunning Dallas in the first round of the playoffs. But he misses time every year with injuries and he can undermine the offense with his bouts of poor shot selection.

Predicted Record: 36–46

SACRAMENTO KINGS

STRENGTH: Wing scoring. Sacramento has a ton of weaknesses, especially with point guard Mike Bibby out for two months, but off guard Kevin Martin is an emerging star, while volatile Ron Artest had a strong second half last season and seems, by his standards, to have calmed down a bit.

WEAKNESS: Frontcourt. Sacramento’s front line was the league’s worst last year. The hope is that center Brad Miller can rebound from a horrendous 2006–07, but he’s been declining for a while. Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Kenny Thomas struggled mightily at power forward, and I’m dubious Nets expat Mikki Moore will help much.

X-FACTOR: John Salmons. With Bibby out and Artest suspended for the first seven games, the journeyman wing suddenly becomes a starting point guard who has to get the rock to Martin and create some business for himself too. I think this job is beyond him, but he’s the most qualified to keep the boat steady until Bibby comes back.

Predicted Record: 27–55

LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS

STRENGTH: Savvy. Say this for the Clippers — they might have the smartest team this side of San Antonio. With cagey point guards Sam Cassell and Brevin Knight, veterans like Cuttino Mobley and Ruben Patterson, and a great X-and-O’s coach in Mike Dunleavy, the Clippers aren’t going to be out-strategied by anybody.

WEAKNESS: Scoring. With Elton Brand out for most of the season, the Clippers might finish last in the league in offense. Corey Maggette will try to pick up the slack, but between the hole at power forward and the advanced age of the backcourt, the Clips face long odds.

X-FACTOR: Al Thornton. The rookie forward should see plenty of minutes as a stand-in for Brand at power forward and as a sub for Maggette and Patterson on the wings. He had a strong preseason, but I’m still questioning whether he’s up to the challenge given that he didn’t play well in college until all the players his own age had graduated.

Predicted Record: 20–62