At the end of the NBA season it was pretty obvious that the Los Angeles Lakers were the number one team in the league and that the Orlando Magic were arguably the second best in the NBA and the top team in the Eastern Conference.

This time the top two teams are in exactly the same spot coming into this NBA season, but both of the Orlando Magic and the Los Angeles Lakers made upgrades to their already dominant squads to maintain their number one and two NBA power rankings in the preseason.

Not only did the Lakers and the Magic make some upgrades by adding defensive specialist Ron Artest in LA and Vince Carter in Orlando, but the rest of the league didn’t just stand by and watch the two best teams better as they made upgrades of their own to complete with the two top teams in the NBA.

Here are the first ten teams NBA Power Rankings coming into the 2009-2010 season:

1. Los Angeles Lakers

This was a no brainer as the Lakers came back to this season with relatively the same squad minus youngster Trevor Ariza who signed with the Houston Rockets in the offseason. They may have lost a big piece to the puzzle in Ariza, but they made up for that by resigning Lamar Odom, signing Kobe Bryant to an extension and adding Ron Artest to the roster. Not bad if you ask me and they definitely deserve to be sitting on top as a result!

2. Orlando Magic

No team in the Eastern Conference was able to hang with the Magic in the playoffs last season and as a result they are arguably the best team in the East to start the season. The Magic may have lost both Hedo Turkoglu and Rafer Alston, but they made up for their loss with Vince Carter which is a pretty good substitute and just might be the key piece to the puzzle that might make them able to compete with the Lakers if they can get back to the NBA Finals this season.

3. Boston Celtics

The injury to Kevin Garnett before the playoffs last season was arguably the reason they did make it back to the NBA Finals for a rematch with the Los Angeles Lakers. Without KG in the mix the Magic just dominated in the paint with Dwight Howard, but with a healthy KG back and Rasheed Wallace now in Boston the Celtics just might have the best frontcourt in the NBA.

4. Cleveland Cavaliers

Much like the Celtics the Cavs couldn’t hang with Dwight Howard and the Magic last season. In an effort to contain Howard they went out and made a blockbuster trade to bring Shaq to Cleveland and give LeBron and the frontcourt a much needed boost. The question now is whether or not Shaq can come through for LeBron when he needs him most.

5. San Antonio Spurs

No team in the West can compete with the Lakers in my opinion, but in an attempt to give the Lakers and the Denver Nuggets a run for their money the aging Spurs got small forward Richard Jefferson. Will Jefferson be enough of an addition to compete in the West? No, but rookie DeJuan Blair out of Pittsburgh might be!

6. Denver Nuggets

No team was more of a surprising in the Western Conference or in the entire NBA for that matter than the revamped Denver Nuggets. Allen Iverson was a great addition to the Nuggets when he was in Denver, but trading him for Chauncey Billups brought the Nuggets to another level altogether, a championship contending level!

After the Nuggets I really don’t see any other teams competing for a title this season in either conference, but here are the last four teams that round out the top ten in the preseaons power rankings:

7. Dallas Mavericks- Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and Shawn Marion might be a winning combination, but I don’t think they can hang with the big boys in the West this season.

8. Portland Trailblazers- The Blazers are the only other team outside of the top six that could compete this season if Brandon Roy can lead this team the way he did last year.

9. Atlanta Hawks- The Hawks have a lot of potential, but they are just missing that killer instinct that the top teams in both conferences seem to have. They will be good, but not great.

10. Phoenix Suns- Not sure how the Suns are in the top ten, honestly this should be the Miami Heat, but they are here and I don’t think they will be here for long.