No.4) Golden State Warriors
Of all the teams in the Western Conference, the Golden State Warriors may be the hardest team to predict where they’ll finish this season. They lost Kevin Durant, but they added D’Angelo Russell. Klay Thompson tore his ACL and probably won’t be back until after the All-Star break. Even so, it will be difficult for him to return to full strength.
Meanwhile, having Russell starting in his place isn’t too big of a drop-off. The Warriors’ current roster should be enough to get them to the playoffs, and if Klay Thompson can return to playing at the high-level everyone is used to seeing him play at, the Warriors can be extremely dangerous Which the Los Angeles Lakers need to be prepared for.
With a healthy Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and D’Angelo Russell, the Golden State Warriors can be a tremendous threat to win an NBA championship. The healthy aspect of it will be crucial, however.
It will be interesting to see how this season plays out for the Warriors, as they have a chance to be extremely good, but might have an equal chance at getting bounced in the first round of the playoffs.
The Warriors won’t be an issue for the Los Angeles Lakers, though. Losing Kevin Durant hurts the Warriors offensively, but even more so defensively. LeBron was unable to overcome a Kevin Durant led Warriors team in his time in Cleveland.
LeBron beat and lost to a Durant-less Warriors team, but both of those teams had Andre Igoudala on them. Not only will Igoudala not play for the Warriors this season, but he may also end up a Laker.
The Warriors’ best option to stop LeBron will be Klay Thompson and that shouldn’t worry the Purple and Gold. Klay is a great defender, but he’ll be a step slower and isn’t big enough to stop LeBron from getting to where he wants to. The Warriors are slightly more threatening to the Lakers than the Denver Nuggets, but not by much.