NBA: Contender Or Pretender?

Golden State Warriors

Contender:

The Dubs were already one of many very good Western teams heading into the summer, but by adding depth to the league’s best backcourt, they may have taken a step forward to being contenders. Shaun Livingston, Brandon Rush and Leandro Barbosa are like the original Star Wars trilogy compared to the Steve Blake and Jordan Crawford prequels and the Dubs’ bench unit has never looked better.

Another year under the belts of guys like Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green will only make life easier for rookie head coach Steve Kerr. Golden State needs Andrew Bogut to stay healthy for the postseason this year, but if he’s able to do so the Warriors will once again have one of the league’s best defenses entering the playoffs.

Pretender:

The only problem is you might have a better time waiting for the new Star Wars movie than you will waiting for Bogut to stay healthy for an entire season. He hasn’t played 70 games since the 2007-08 season and he’s played a total of 111 games in the past three seasons combined. The Warriors are still a good team without him, but they won’t be challenging the powerhouses out West without him.

Livingston and Rush haven’t exactly been able to stay healthy in recent years either. There’s a chance Green’s impressive seven-game series against the Clippers was just a small sample size and he still can’t shoot. This team still heavily relies on the Super Splash Brothers, and assuming the Dubs stay completely healthy, there are no guarantees in the brutal West. When all is said and done though, just because the Dubs aren’t quite elite doesn’t mean they’re not a formidable postseason opponent.

Verdict: Contender