The Eye on Basketball team gets you ready for the 2014-15 NBA season with our division-by-division previews.

KEY QUESTIONS

Will the Spurs suffer any championship hangover?

At this point it sounds more ridiculous that the Spurs haven't repeated as champions in their now 15 years of dominance than that they could, but here we are. San Antonio has never gone back to back, but then again, they hadn't won in an even-numbered season until last year, either. And if any team is primed to pull it off, it's this one, with better balance on both sides of the ball and a continuity that's the basketball equivalent of the Simpsons.

But there's a reason San Antonio hasn't pulled it off before. It's difficult. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili skipped FIBA play (Parker for rest, Ginobili for injury) but still they played into mid-June and that takes a toll, even with how many games they sat last year. And the West is brutal.

Gregg Popovich talked about his fear of complacency from the younger players this summer. The Heat suffered the wear and tear of the grind. It eats at you, and while the Spurs are better positioned and trained to deal with it than most, they're also so successful you wonder what it is they have left to compete for.

For a team so often accused of being boring, you have to wonder if it's the Spurs themselves who might find themselves a little bored this year.

Has Dallas found the right balance?

Lost in the fun of the Mavericks pushing the eventual champs to seven games last year was the fact that their team was a defensive disaster. It was like when you burn the onions or leeks when you start to make a soup and have to throw it out. They couldn't contain the perimeter, and they couldn't protect the rim. They got beat in transition and on simple cuts.

It was not good.

But the Mavericks to their credit took what made their offense great last year -- spacing, Dirk Nowitzki and Monta Ellis -- and added defense. They jettisoned Jose Calderon to get Tyson Chandler, which means Devin Harris gets more time, along with Jameer Nelson, who they picked up.

Chandler Parsons has a lot of potential when it comes to defense that was untapped in Houston. Al-Farouq Aminu was an underrated pick-up. They have better balance on defense without sacrificing much, if anything on offense. They might even be better offensively this season.

That balance is important. Rick Carlisle will have the versatility to win games in a variety of ways. They don't have to just win shootouts. But it's also new personnel, and often it takes time to learn how to play together. How fast they figure that out could determine how far the Mavs go.

No, for real this time, will the Pelicans be healthy?

The Pelicans are a fascinating lightning rod in basketball circles. Their roster doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, what with Eric Gordon's injury status and Tyreke Evans making eight figures. But they're loaded with young talent and had the most injuries of any team last year.

This is make or break for the team, their management, their coaching staff, everybody. In order to capitalize on their talent, they have to get healthy. Their best five players last season (Jrue Holiday, Evans, Gordon, Anthony Davis, and Ryan Anderson) played just 15 games together last season. They have been racked with injuries, more so than maybe any team last year, even the Lakers or Nuggets.

But they're also unproven. Can Evans succeed at the small forward? Will they have any depth? Will Davis thrive at the 4? We have no idea how to answer any of these questions because the Pelicans were injured from the get-go. They have to get healthy just so we can know if this weird experiment will work.

BONUS: Is Houston worse on paper but better in reality?

Houston lost Chandler Parsons, Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik. The Rockets picked up Trevor Ariza off a contract year and some bruiser-type bigs to replace them. It looks like a big downgrade in talent.

But the biggest thing the Rockets were missing last season was toughness on the defensive end. And adding those bigs who can give hard fouls and rebound will help. If their perimeter defense improves with continuity year over year and the addition of Ariza, they could be in good shape. The Rockets didn't need scoring last year, they needed defense and shooters. Ariza provides both. Throw in the help that continuity provides and Houston may have gotten worse in the conceptual and better in the actual.

Anthony Davis (USATSI)
New Orleans' fortunes may hinge on Anthony Davis. (USATSI)

Our preseason MVP: Spurs system

Yeah, you can say Dwight Howard or Marc Gasol or Anthony Davis. You can even say Tony Parker or Tim Duncan. But the biggest force in the Southwest is the Spurs' system. It exploits weaknesses, it makes you look foolish, and it's nigh unbeatable. This division is loaded, it's brutal, and filled with awesome players. But the Spurs' system is what makes them so dominant and one of the best teams we've seen over the past 20 years.

X-Factor: Anthony Davis evolving into a greater monster

The Unibrow is a whole other thing at this point. He added a fadeaway jumpshot last season and continues to learn how to not just be a playmaker defensively but an impactful one (rotations, proper awareness, spacing, etc.). Davis is already being talked about as the next big thing. If he evolves into that this season, it could drastically change the division's outlook. The questions about the Pelicans are about health and how the roster fits together. But if Davis becomes an elite top-five player this season, which doesn't seem impossible, that could change everything. Superstars dictate this league, and Davis looks primed to be the next true megastar.

CBSSports.com Experts Predict the Southwest Division
 

Ken
Berger
@KBergCBS

Matt
Moore
@MattMooreCBS

Zach
Harper
@TalkHoops

James
Herbert
@outsidethenba
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