Golden State Warriors: What To Realistically Expect From The Dubs In 2016-17
By Jacob Little
The Golden State Warriors have arguably the best NBA roster ever assembled, but what can realistically be expected from them this season?
The Golden State Warriors made history this offseason with the creation of a super-team that has unprecedented talent.
With the addition of Kevin Durant, the Warriors now have the last two NBA MVP award winners on their roster. (Durant in 2014, and Curry in 2015 & 2016). There have been other NBA teams to have multiple NBA MVP’s on the roster at the same time, but none with current back-to-back winners.
Other teams with multiple MVP players on the same team:
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- Bob Cousy and Bill Russell – Boston Celtics.
- Moses Malone and Julius Erving – Philadelphia 76ers.
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bob McAdoo – Los Angeles Lakers
- Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – Los Angeles Lakers
- Shaquille O’Neal and Karl Malone – Los Angeles Lakers
- Steve Nash and Shaquille O’Neal – Phoenix Suns
- Kevin Garnett and Shaquille O’Neal – Boston Celtics
- Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash – Los Angeles Lakers
It is rare when you have two MVP winners on the same team. It is even more rare when you have two MVP players in their prime on the same team. The Warriors are now one of those teams. With that being said, what is in store for the Golden State Warriors in 2016-17?
Realistic Expectations For The Golden State Warriors
Ultimately, the Warriors organization and fan base will see the season as a failure if they do not add another championship banner to the rafters. After adding a former league MVP, Golden State has arguably created the greatest team, talent-wise, of all-time.
Just imagine Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Kevin Durant, and Draymond Green all on the floor at the same time. That truly is a “death lineup”. As scary as that looks on paper, just wait til the 2017 NBA Playoffs. By then, team chemistry will be at its peak as well as the level of play.
Last season, the Warriors set the record for the most regular season wins of all time when they finished 73-9. As impressive as this was, you can argue how much wind this took out of their sails. With that being said the ultimate goal of any given NBA season is to win the title.
Regardless of their regular season record last year, the Warriors walked away without any hardware leaving a sour taste in their mouths.
This year, the Western Conference has done nothing but weaken, other than the Warriors. The team that gave them the biggest challenge lost their best player and now he is wearing a Warriors jersey. With that being said, Golden State should have no issues in their quest to return to the NBA finals. That is if the team can remain healthy.
The Golden State Warriors opened up with the best vegas odds to win the NBA Championship at 3-2. Followed by the Cleveland Cavaliers at 5-2.
Considering whatever team LeBron James is on has made it to the NBA Finals each of the past seven years, we can expect a NBA Finals rematch of last year.
Season Predictions
Even though this Golden State Warriors team is better, talent-wise, than they were last year, I think they will finish with less wins than last season. Last season, they learned that the postseason is where rings are won, and not the regular season.
I think they wasted too much energy chasing Michael Jordan‘s 72-10 Chicago Bulls and that showed in the NBA Finals when they blew a 3-1 series lead.
Ultimately, I think they will finish first in the Western Conference with a 64-18 record. Just like we saw in Miami when they created their big three with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, this Warriors team will take a few games to get the chemistry down and figure out their new roles. But once they figure it out, watch out.
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In the NBA Finals, I think the Warriors will knock off the reigning champions with a 4-2 series victory and bring the title back to Oakland, California. They simply have too much talent on that roster not to walk away with an NBA title.