Contenders and Pretenders: Making sense of the NBA’s crowded field

After a chaotic offseason, which teams should be considered contenders entering the 2019-20 season?

Following Kevin Durant‘s departure from the Golden State Warriors and Kawhi Leonard‘s decision to spurn the Los Angeles Lakers for the cross-town Clippers, the NBA is seemingly balanced for the first time in years.

This year’s NBA Finals matchup does not feel like a foregone conclusion, which is more than can be said for the last ten years or so. LeBron James‘ Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers teams were virtual locks to represent the Eastern Conference until his departure for the Lakers last offseason.

Meanwhile, in the West, the San Antonio Spurs were consistently near the top of the conference, but Golden State was even more dominant, earning trips to the last five NBA Finals.

Much of this was attributable to a widespread lack of parity throughout the league. However, after all of the player movement that occurred this offseason, a multitude of teams enter this season looking to contend for a title.

However, only one of these teams can end the season as the NBA’s champion. Therefore, at this juncture in the offseason, it is useful to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, pinpointing which teams are true title threats and which teams may disappoint when the postseason arrives.

(All stats are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com. Teams are listed in alphabetical order.)