NBA preview | 2008-09: What's worth watching in NBA

Story lines for the 2008-09 season:

1 — Look out for Philly in the new Beastly East

Last season, the completely remade Boston Celtics brought respectability and an NBA title to the Eastern Conference. The balance of power tilted more toward the Atlantic last summer, when Philadelphia spent $185 million to lure Elton Brand away from the Los Angeles Clippers, re-signed Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams and then added Theo Ratliff, Donyell Marshall and Kareem Rush to their bench.

2 — Starting the season without their stars.

Washington's Gilbert Arenas — a real Agent Zero, as in his new $111,000,000 contract — is out until December while he recovers from his third knee surgery. San Antonio's Manu Ginobili (ankle) also will miss the season's opening month. Golden State's Monta Ellis is gone for at least the first 30 games; the Warriors suspended Ellis for seriously injuring his ankle in a moped accident and then trying to cover it up not long after he signed a new $66 million deal. That moped ride will cost him nearly $3 million. Elsewhere, Houston's Tracy McGrady and Denver's Allen Iverson played little in preseason because of injuries.

3 — Blazing fresh trails in the West.

The young and rich just keep getting younger and richer. Up-and-coming Portland adds 2007 No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden, European sensation Rudy Fernandez and 2008 draft picks Jerryd Bayless and Nicolas Batum to a team already loaded with young, great talent. Oden missed all last season because of microfracture knee surgery and is a favorite to win Rookie of the Year, but you won't see him fulfilling the many requests for him to pose for national magazine covers. "I haven't earned nothing," said Oden, a 7-foot center whose game and face look more like 30 than 20. "There's a lot of guys who deserve a cover. Not me."

4 — Kobe and LeBron: Catch 'em while you can?

Many NBA teams have worked feverishly to clear cap space for the summer of 2010, when LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, Chris Bosh, Manu Ginobili, Steve Nash, Josh Howard and Dirk Nowitzki all potentially could be unrestricted free agents. Kobe Bryant can opt out of his contract after this season. All of which leads to speculation that European teams will come calling with ridiculous offers to turn a trickle — Josh Childress left Atlanta last summer to sign with Greek club team Olympiacos — into a flood that conceivably could take the NBA's best talent overseas. Reportedly, Olympiacos is considering offering Bryant a three-year, $60 million deal. "Don't ask me that," Bryant said last week. "It's silly."

5 — Now all the Rockets need is a Bunsen burner and some beakers

Houston won an NBA-record 22 consecutive games last season, but the Rockets' 55-27 regular season still didn't get them out of the first round of the playoffs. Enter Ron Artest, the tough, combustible star forward acquired from Sacramento over the summer in what amounts to a bold chemistry experiment. Now, the Rockets have a triumvirate of McGrady, Artest and Yao Ming, although don't tell Houston coach Rick Adelman that his crew to the West's answer to NBA champion Boston's Big Three core of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. "I don't see a comparison," said Adelman.