NBA: Contender Or Pretender?

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Oct 20, 2014; Columbus, OH, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose (1) drives past Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) at Value City Arena. Cleveland won the game 107-98. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports /

Are these NBA teams contenders or pretenders?

With the start of a new NBA season only a week away, rosters are being trimmed down to 15 players and anticipation is slowly building. The preseason is a nice distraction, but it’s not indicative of what we’ll see during the regular season, where teams spend a full 82 games fighting for playoff positioning.

We already have a pretty good idea of who the best teams in the NBA will be in 2014-15. LeBron James singlehandedly swings the balance of power in the East, while the Western Conference playoff picture is becoming more like a new episode of the Bachelorette with each passing season. (11 eligible playoff bachelors. Only eight roses. Tune in this season for our most dramatic rose ceremony EVER!)

But at the start of a new season, most casual NBA fans only care about one thing: Who’s going to win it all when June rolls around? Who’s going to be the team that nobody wants to play in the postseason? Since we still have a week left of guilt-free speculation until the season starts, here’s a look at 10 of the best teams in the NBA (on paper) and whether we should take them seriously as contenders…or if they’re only pretenders.

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