NBA: Ranking the 9 contenders with the best shot to win the 2019-20 title

7. Golden State Warriors

The reason I have the Dubs on this list is that I’m assuming Klay comes back on schedule and by the end of the regular season, he’s at least 75-80 percent of the way back to his old self.

If that doesn’t happen for any reason, then the Warriors slim title hopes will disappear completely.

If things do go according to plan, then things become really interesting and suddenly, this is a team that nobody wants to face come playoff time.

Everything begins with Steph Curry, who projects to have a monster season with KD out of the picture and Klay sidelined. This team will go as far as Steph takes them and if he can morph back into MVP-form, that could be quite far, especially with the newly-acquired D’Angelo Russell in the backcourt next to him as I think these two will mesh beautifully together on the court.

And looking at all of this through a wider lens, not being the prohibited favorites anymore may end up being a blessing in disguise. Now, Golden State will be playing with far lower expectations which will almost certainly mean there will be far less drama and adversity following this team wherever it goes.

All that should result in the Dubs playing loose and with nothing to lose, and barring any more injury problems, that should spell trouble for the rest of the league.