5 reasons the Golden State Warriors can win the 2017 NBA Championship

January 16, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) and forward Kevin Durant (35) celebrate during the second quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 126-91. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

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Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /

2. The Warriors have just enough depth for another run

A lot has been made of how the Warriors don’t have as much depth this season after they parted ways with Andrew Bogut, Harrison Barnes, Marreese Speights and Festus Ezeli to make room for Durant. However, they still have eight or nine players they can count on. Outside of their core, they have Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala from last season’s roster as well as David West, Zaza Pachulia and David West whom they picked up in free agency.

It’s hard to make it through the regular season with less bodies, but coaches usually count on shorter rotations in the playoffs. While they won’t all log meaningful minutes in their road to the NBA Finals, each of them can give the Warriors positive minutes in spurts. Their best lineups this season have even been with some combination of Curry, Thompson, Durant, Draymond Green and a bench player.

The fact they aren’t as deep as last season might also encourage Kerr to roll with a shorter rotation than he did in last year’s NBA Finals when he played Anderson Varejao and Leandro Barbosa a combined 20 minutes per game. Assuming a top-heavy roster doesn’t prevent them from getting to the NBA Finals, their lack of depth could actually help them in the long-run.