5. Golden State Warriors
It’s easy to sleep on the Golden State Warriors but after sleepwalking through the regular season, in which they were also decimated by injuries and other absences, they were pretty solid in the postseason. They upset the upstart Sacramento Kings in the first round and were just two wins away from making the Western Conference Finals. They probably would’ve still lost to the Denver Nuggets but the demise of the Warriors’ dynasty was very much overstated.
After re-signing Draymond Green this offseason, the Warriors are back and should factor once again in who comes out of the West. If one of their young players can have a breakout performance this season, perhaps Jonathan Kuminga, the whole dynamic around this team changes.
I don’t think the Warriors’ dynasty is over just yet. I’m not sure how many more years they have in them but I think it would be pretty immature to count them out just yet. They struggled last season, sure. But I have a feeling they’re going to bounce back in a big way this year.