Just four-and-a-half months after the Los Angeles Lakers annexed their first National Basketball Association title in seven years, here we are again with a new 1,230-game regular campaign ahead of us.

The NBA’s 64th renewal got underway last October 27 (Oct. 28 in Manila). All 30 teams play 82 games each during the regular wars – 41 at home and 41 on the road. Sixteen teams – the top eight in both the Eastern and Western conferences – will qualify for the four-tier playoffs which begin in mid-April next year.

From where this Hoopster sits, at least eight teams, including five from the power-packed Western Conference, have the materials to contend for the Larry O’Brien championship trophy.

In the West, the defending titlist Lakers (Pacific Division), Portland Trail Blazers (Northwest), San Antonio Spurs (Southwest), Dallas Mavericks (Southwest) and Denver Nuggets (Northwest) will be slugging it out not only for a division crown but also for top conference honors.

Out in the East, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics are in a class among themselves and are the prohibitive favorites to rule the Central, Southeast and Atlantic divisions, respectively.

During the summer, most clubs with realistic chances of dethroning the Lakers retooled their lineups through free agency or the trade route.

The Cavaliers, who registered the NBA’s best record during the 2008-09 regular wars but were knocked out by Orlando in six games during the Easter final playoffs, acquired 7-1, 37-year-old Shaquille O’Neal from Phoenix in a trade and signed up Anthony Parker (formerly of Toronto), Jamario Moon (Miami) and Leon Powe (Boston) as free agents.

The moves were designed to bolster the Wine City’s chances of winning its first U.S. major sports title since athlete-turned-actor Jim Brown powered the Cleveland Browns to the 1964 National Football League crown and to convince reigning NBA MVP LeBron James to re-sign with the club when he becomes eligible for free agency next July.

Defending East champion Orlando, which dropped a 4-1 decision to the Lakers during the 2009 NBA Finals, surrendered Turkish shooter Hedo Turkoglu to Toronto through a sign-and-trade but compensated for his departure by obtaining All-Star swingman Vince Carter from New Jersey in a five-man trade.

The Magic don’t have the services of All-Star forward Rashard Lewis for the first 10 games of the season after he was suspended by the NBA for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. Lewis had taken for medication a drug that contained a high level of testosterone.

Boston seeks to regain the NBA title it last won in 2008 with Celtic oldhands Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo, a healthy Kevin Garnett, and new recruit Rasheed Wallace, a combustible 6-11, 35-year forward who was signed out of Detroit as a free agent.

Over the last two years, Portland has always given the Lakers the fits during the regulars. The Trail Blazers, though, were beaten by Houston in the first round of the 2009 playoffs and the Lakers were lucky to avoid them during their title run. Last summer, Portland tried to pry forward Paul Millsap away from Utah but the Jazz matched its offer sheet to him. The club expects to see oft-injured center Greg Olden finally living up to his potential this season. In getting playmaker Andre Miller, a Philadelphia free agent, to team up with All-Star Brandon Roy, Portland also bolsters its backcourt.

San Antonio won NBA titles in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007 behind the brilliant efforts of 7-foot forward/center Tim Duncan. The 33-year-old Duncan may be is in his last wheels and is burdened by tendinitis in both knees, but the Spurs have been rejuvenated by the addition of shooting forward Richard Jefferson (acquired from Milwaukee in a trade) and frontliners Antonio McDyess (signed as a free agent out of Detroit) and Theo Ratliff (also a free agent) this season.

Dallas, which eliminated San Antonio in the first-round playoffs, bolstered its bid for a first-ever NBA title with the acquisition of forwards Shawn Marion (in a trade with Toronto), Drew Gooden and Tim Thomas. The Mavericks signed Orlando’s restricted free agent Marcin Gortat to an offer sheet but the Magic retained the services of the 6-11 Polish substitute center by exercising its right of first refusal.

While Denver lost sharpshooter Linas Kleiza to the Greek League and defensive specialist Dahntay Jones to Indiana via free agency during the offseason and will be without shooting guard J.R. Smith for the first seven regular games following an NBA suspension for pleading guilty to reckless driving, the reigning Northwest Division champion Nuggets continue to be a huge threat with starters Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups and Kenyon Martin and defensive demon Chris “The Birdman” Andersen around.

Still and all, the Lakers remain as the team to beat in the NBA during the 2009-10 wars. The Lakers made only one major roster change during the offseason – losing first-string small forward Trevor Ariza to Houston but prying enigmatic small forward Ron Artest away from the Rockets in separate free-agent moves that many described as a de facto trade.