Regardless, things are wide open in the West, with fans in San Antonio, Portland, Utah and L.A. all thinking they could be championship bound. With training camps underway here's a little primer on where the teams in the Western Conference are practicing and what to look for when they do.

TEAM	PLACE	KEY QUESTION
Dallas Mavericks	Baylor/Tom Landry Center	Can Steve Nash prove he wasn't a horrible bust?
Denver Nuggets	Nuggets practice facility	Why would Dan Issel be able to do what Mike D'Antoni couldn't?
Golden State Warriors	Warriors training facility	Was Antawn Jamison's rookie year an aberration?
Houston Rockets	Austin, Texas	Can Steve Francis make sure that Dream and Chuck get enough shots?
Los Angeles Clippers	L.A. Southwest College	What will happen with key holdout Maurice Taylor?
Los Angeles Lakers	Cal-Santa Barbara	Will the Glen Rice-for-Scottie Pippen trade talk ever stop?
Minnesota Timberwolves	St. John's Univ. (Minn.) and Phoenix	Can rookie William Avery and Terrell Brandon play at the same time?
Phoenix Suns	Flagstaff, Ariz.	Is Danny Ainge getting the good Penny or the just average Penny?
Portland Trail Blazers	Blazers practice facility	Pippen's great, but only center here is Arvydas Sabonis. Where's the help?
Sacramento Kings	Kings practice facility	Is Nick Anderson that much better than Vernon Maxwell?
San Antonio Spurs	Spurs practice facility	Will The Admiral be as happy in his secondary role this year?
Seattle SuperSonics	Sonics training facility	Brent Barry's failed in three NBA cities. Will he do anything in Seattle?
Utah Jazz	Boise State University	This team is brutally old and added nothing. So why would their fans think championship?
Vancouver Grizzlies	Victoria, B.C.	Grant Long is the 4. They lost Francis, and the team is next. Why would a free agent go here?