Essentials: Time for many questions to finally be answered

The Western Conference has become a wait-and-see project.

How will Shaquille O'Neal fit in with the Suns? How will Jason Kidd fare with Dallas? How's Kobe Bryant's pinkie going to affect his play?

Kobe Bryant's threshold for pain means everything to the Lakers' championship hopes. (Getty Images)

Now that the All-Star Game is over, so is the wait. Kidd's deal to Dallas goes through, O'Neal's hip will be alleviated enough to play, and Bryant, despite taking most of Sunday off, will begin the endeavor of compensating with the pain from a torn ligament in his finger. Houston is still hot, New Orleans rides the wave of basketball fever in its city and Denver will continue playing short-handed while awaiting the potential acquisition of Ron Artest.

The February 21 trade deadline will allow those who do stay put to be comfortable with their surroundings as a lot of players in today's culture let lingering speculation interfere with their play and have already seen massive changes take place in what has been the most eventful run up to the deadline in recent memory.

Atlanta picking up Mike Bibby over the weekend increases its chances of making the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, while the drama out West features 10 teams going for eight spots now that Sacramento seems to have pulled out of the running.

Everything seems to have been put on pause through the All-Star Weekend; Kevin Garnett and Caron Butler will be coming back from sustained absences, as will Tony Parker. The holding pattern that these teams have matriculated themselves into comes to an end. Over the final 30 or so games the level of intensity rises and will start getting into the neighborhood where otherwise meaningless meetings between Milwaukee and Philadelphia or Portland and Utah will now mean everything. The stretch run is about to begin.

Of all the situations, Phoenix's is the most interesting. The Suns felt that Shawn Marion's attitude had become a major distraction, but in dealing for O'Neal, they've put themselves in a position where they're counting on one of the game's most dynamic personalities fitting in and accepting a lesser role. How is someone who has grown up being a first or second option going to handle being the third or fourth? With the Lakers, Celtics and Pistons on Phoenix's schedule, we'll find out sooner than later.

Here are a few other questions that should be on everyone's mind as the second half of the season begins:

What will be the next domino to drop? The trade deadline figures to see at least a few more moves even though the bulk of the damage has been done already. There are just too many buyers and sellers for the 3 p.m. Thursday deadline to come and go without any more action.

How will the Celtics react if Garnett's return doesn't yield immediate success? Boston has been coasting and figures to hit a rough patch even with its best player scheduled to return. Doc Rivers has said he won't play him until he's 100 percent, but when he does come back, will his team be able to handle adversity since they haven't really experienced it as of yet? Remember, although Boston has been perfect against the Western Conference thus far, its only now going to start hitting the road and still has to go through the entire state of Texas.

How will Washington respond to Gilbert Arenas' return? They've become a grind-it-out team and will have to get their star guard to buy in to playing gritty defense, something that has never been one of his fortes.

Throwing all that in with the questions surrounding L.A., Dallas and Phoenix will leave us with an eventful second half, one that is setting up to be one of the most intriguing in decades. There are a lot of teams that feel like they have a legitimate shot, which figures to set up an amazing final two months.

Team of the week: San Antonio returns home from its rodeo trip after a 6-3 mark with Parker back to health and Brent Barry a week or two away. Although the moves being made in the West make it easy to overlook the team that's won four titles in nine years, expect them to take off from this point forward.

Team of the weak: Look for New York to pick up right where it left off and struggle. Not only is it no secret that Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph are on the market, but those rumors about Jamal Crawford wanting out are true as well. The Knicks had an awful final stretch last season, but that didn't stop James Dolan from giving Isiah Thomas an extension. It wouldn't be too surprising if New York's clueless owner gives him a lifetime contract after a three-game winning streak, but that doesn't figure to come this week.

Player to watch: O'Neal, Kidd and Bryant all come into this next stretch under the microscope. Which one is most important? That debate could realistically yield three right answers.