My 5 Western Locks:
1. Spurs
2. Warriors
3. Clips
4. Rockets
5. Thunder
Those teams will all make the playoffs, without barring injury. Each of those teams could lose a star (except maybe Clips with CP3, but even Collison is a pretty capable backup, plus they would make a trade if that happened) and still make playoffs.
Fringe Locks
6. Wolves--they need Rubio and Love to survive the season, which, does that ever happen? But they make 2nd round at least if they do.
7. Grizz--no idea whether they're for real or not. They need a wing scorer. If they get one at the trade deadline, they're a force.
8. Dallas--We love to hate on them, but damn, Monta fits on that team, Dirk looks great, and Marion looks better than he has in years.
Scraping
9. Pelicans - If they wise up and trade Gordon or Tyreke for a wing scorer, or holy crap, Monroe....
10. Lakers - Here's us.
So yes, if the Pelicans and/or Grizz fail to make trades they're totally capable of making asset-wise (as in, they actually possess desirable "blue chip players" and "draft picks"--you young Laker fans might not recognize these words), and/or the wheels come off for Dallas (Dirk gets hurts), then yes, the Lakers can totally get their asses blown out into the Pacific, at home.
This also presumes the Suns and Nuggets front offices put the clamps on any playoff runs and put their tank programs into overdrive, because right now, they book look better equipped to survive the regular season than we do (i.e. youth, athleticism, better defensive rankings).
But I'd totally take my chances for that over a chance at Parker, Smart, Randle, Wiggins....wouldn't you?