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The defending champion Spurs only got better in the offseason, re-signing Robert Horry while bringing in veterans Michael Finley and Nick Van Exel. Those moves, coupled with their great coaching staff and title-winning talent, make the Spurs the favorites again in the West, if not the entire NBA. But who in the West can give the Spurs a run for their money? Let's look at some contenders:

Phoenix Suns

Why they can: Phoenix made some, ahem, interesting moves this offseason, trading in the fun and gun style that ran up points and wins last season for a bigger, more physical team. This allows them to defend the Spurs overwhelming size better, and slows the game down a bit, since running up and down didn't seem to work in last year's Conference Finals. Another reason the Suns can chase down the Spurs is because of the emergence of big man Amare Stoudemire, who is rapidly becoming one of those 'first name players' along with Kobe, Shaq, and LeBron. If Amare can take that next step from great to superstar, Phoenix can contend again in the West.

Why they can't: They lost their identity. Trading Joe Johnson and Quentin Richardson for big guys took away a solid chunk of the offense that helped the Suns to 62 wins last season. The Suns averaged over 110 points per game, seven more than the rest of the league, and they used their fun and gun style to plow over teams last year on their way to the league's best record. This year, they lost two of their top 3-point weapons, and will have to rely on a slower, more methodical attack, something that doesn't necessarily fit the mold of their team leader, reigning NBA MVP Steve Nash. Phoenix has simply lost their identity, and that may ultimately cost them a chance to win the franchise's first NBA Title.

Seattle SuperSonics

Why they can: They still have Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis. The Sonics had a lot of free agent turmoil this offseason, but they were able to bring back the team's biggest piece, star Ray Allen. Allen's shooting touch and Lewis's versatile skills will give the Sonics plenty of favorable matchups both inside and out, and will allow for their role players to shine. They also brought back Vladimir Radmanovic after a long contract struggle, and he is coming back for one year, so he will once again be playing for his contract, and will probably be a starter this season. Having Vlade on the floor more will also give the Supes another weapon to utilize. New Sonics coach Bob Weiss, replacing the very successful Nate McMillan, will have hard work matching last season's success.

Why they can't: Too much change. While they did keep Allen and Radmanovic, the Sonics lost free agents Jerome James, Reggie Evans, Antonio Daniels, and most importantly, head coach Nate McMillian. Seattle relied on everybody on their team to chip in and do a job last year, and it worked well, getting the Sonics into the second round of the playoffs. But when a team overachieves, as Seattle did last year, they usually need to stay together for it to continue, and that didn't happen. They lost their starting center and power forward, their best scoring backup, and their coach, who put it all together and got this team winning. Everything went right for Seattle last year, and they still only made it two rounds in the playoffs, look for a steep decline for Seattle this year.

Sacramento Kings

Why the can: Sacramento, the owners of the proverbial "window of opportunity," still see it a crack open. Geoff Petrie has done a great job of re-establishing the once west powerhouse into a contender again. After losing Vlade Divac, Chris Webber, Doug Christie, Bobby Jackson, Greg Ostertag and Darius Songaila, the Kings made a few tricky moves to stay in the thick of things. They were able to bring in Shareef Abdur-Rahim out of the blue after his deal fell through with the Nets, they were able to move oft-injured Bobby Jackson for oft-cranky Bonzi Wells (cranky and playing is still more productive than happy yet injured as Jackson always was), and they did well to get backup point guard Jason Hart from Charlotte. The starting five of Brad Miller, Abdur-Rahim, Peja Stojakovic, Wells and Mike Bibby is formidable, and with players like Corliss Williamson, Kenny Thomas, and Hart coming off the bench, the Kings may be one or two players away from very serious title contention.

Why they can't: They're too small. Even when Sacramento was at the top of their game, people pointed to the fact that their big men didn't play physically outside, instead opting for a precision offense using jump shots and passing. Now, the Kings not only don't have inside presence, they lost the size too. Outside of Brad Miller, nobody on the Kings regular rotation is over 6-10, and the one that is 6-10, Peja Stojakovic, is a very outside oriented perimeter shooter. They don't have the size and physicality to match San Antonio's bulk, and this will ultimately cost them in the playoffs again, when those difficult clutch shots won't fall from 20 feet away.

Discussion of the Rockets, Mavericks and Nuggets, plus a prediction of the West, coming tomorrow.