Preseason, training camps display new faces in new places

Shaq's back in the Eastern Conference, KG is (hopefully) back in the Boston Celtics' lineup, Kobe's back to defend his title and 30 NBA teams are back to basics and the grind of two-a-day practices.

With the opening of training camps this week and the start of the preseason schedule, the 2009-10 campaign comes out of the starting blocks with old faces in new places and enough fresh stories to fill a library.

Before Opening Week of the regular season tips off on Oct. 27, there are plenty of miles to cover, time zones to cross and angles to examine, starting Thursday night in Salt Lake City when newly-inducted Hall of Fame coach Jerry Sloan enters his 22nd season heading up the Jazz against the Denver Nuggets.

After debuting at home, the Jazz will cross the Atlantic as part of the NBA's 2009 Europe Live to face the Chicago Bulls on Oct. 6 at the O2 Arena in London. The Jazz will then move on to face Real Madrid at the Palacio de Deportes in Spain Oct. 8.

The Nuggets will head in the other direction to play the Indiana Pacers in Taipei on Oct. 8 and the two teams will meet again three nights later in mainland China at the Wukesong Arena in Beijing, the sight of the basketball competition at the 2008 Olympics.

The Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns will match up in Monterrey, Mexico on Oct. 18 and in other games with an international flair, Partizan Belgrade of Serbia will play at Denver (Oct. 3) and Phoenix (Oct. 5), Olympiacos Piraeus of Greece will travel to San Antonio (Oct. 9) and Cleveland (Oct. 12) and Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel will play at New York (Oct. 18) and in LA against the Clippers (Oct. 20).

But when it comes to border crossings, none is bigger than the off-season move of Shaquille O'Neal to his third different team in three seasons to join LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers' bid to win their first ever NBA title. After coming up short against the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals last spring, the Cavaliers are adding the most dominant big man of this era to the club that finished with the best regular season record in the league a year ago.

Meanwhile Kobe Bryant and the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers didn't stand pat on their league record 30th trip to the NBA Finals and the franchise's 15th title. The 2009 victory parade had barely rolled to a stop when the Lakers -- and Bryant -- embraced an old nemesis in Ron Artest. After a one-season stop in Houston, which featured a lively and contentious second-round playoff series against the Lakers, Artest will bring his physical offensive game and his tough-minded defensive attitude to LA's attempt to go back-to-back.

As happy as the Boston Celtics will be to add veteran forward Rasheed Wallace to their mix, nothing delights the men in green more than having a healthy Kevin Garnett back in the lineup after knee surgery prematurely ended last season and kept him out of the Playoffs.

The Orlando Magic, who seemed to surprise everyone except themselves by winning the Eastern Conference crown and reaching the NBA Finals, are not simply arriving at camp to recapture the spark with the same group. After contract demands prompted a trade of one of last year's big guns in Hedo Turkoglu to Toronto, the Magic have reloaded by adding Vince Carter and will use the preseason to assimilate him into the lineup with All-NBA First Team center Dwight Howard. They also brought in steady reserves in Brandon Bass and Matt Barnes.

The four-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs are trying to keep their window of opportunity open by adding some youth and athleticism in the form of Richard Jefferson to supplement their big three combination of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker.

After finishing strong and winning a round in the Playoffs last spring, the Dallas Mavericks re-signed veteran point guard Jason Kidd and then made one of the biggest splashes of the off-season by working a sign-and-trade deal with Toronto for Shawn Marion. Now the Mavericks figure they're right back in the Western Conference mix.

After taking a disappointing step back last season, the New Orleans Hornets swapped centers with Charlotte, hoping they traded Tyson Chandler's up-and-down concentration level for the steady play of Emeka Okafor.

There is even unbridled optimism around the LA Clippers, parlaying their Draft Lottery win into No. 1 pick Blake Griffin, who has given every indication in the Summer League and informal workouts that he can be just as good in the NBA as he was in college at Oklahoma.

One of the most intriguing storylines of training camp and the preseason will be following the exploits of Allen Iverson, the perennial All-Star and former MVP, who will be trying to rekindle his career with the Memphis Grizzlies. After eventually petering out in the partnership with Carmelo Anthony in Denver, Iverson had virtually a lost season in Detroit a year ago, where he didn't like his role and did nothing to help the Pistons. Now the question is whether Iverson can provide a solid veteran presence off the bench without having a negative effect on the core of young talent in Memphis.

These will be training camps where five new coaches -- John Kuester (Detroit), Kurt Rambis (Minnesota), Eddie Jordan (Philadelphia), Flip Saunders (Washington) and Paul Westphal (Sacramento) -- will move in and four others who were interim head coaches last season -- Lionel Hollins (Memphis), Scott Brooks (Oklahoma City), Alvin Genty (Phoenix) and Jay Triano (Toronto) -- get to put on their stamp things right from the start.