This year, the NBA's Western Conference has been super competitive, and it's hard to tell who will come out and go to the Finals. There are some who think the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors have a good chance of making it to the Finals, and ESPN's Kevin Pelton shared his upside takes on the two teams.

“[Luka] Doncic and [LeBron] James dial in their chemistry just in time for another deep playoff run,” Pelton wrote. “With opponents continuing to struggle from 3-point range, as they did in the second half of the season against the Lakers, they beat Minnesota in Round 1 and upset an inexperienced Houston team in Round 2.

“As in last year's matchup with Oklahoma City, Doncic sees his teammates get hot from 3-point range at the right time as the Lakers make their first Finals appearance since 2020.”

The Lakers have a good chance of making the Finals, and it probably wouldn't surprise many if they did. The Warriors also have a compelling case to make a deep run.

“‘Playoff Jimmy' [Butler] reappears in conjunction with two of the other greatest postseason overachievers of the past two decades, [Stephen] Curry and [Draymond] Green,” Pelton wrote.

“After beating Memphis in the opening play-in game, the Warriors upset the youthful Rockets and win a rematch against the Lakers in round two, then find themselves with a huge experience edge against Oklahoma City in the Thunder's first conference finals appearance since losing to the Warriors in 2016.

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“Reversing that series, Golden State closes out the series at home in Game 6 with Curry channeling Klay Thompson by scoring 41 points to send the Warriors to a seventh Finals appearance in his career.”

Could Lakers, Warriors make deep playoff runs?

With the addition of Jimmy Butler, the Warriors have a better chance of making a deep playoff run than they did to start the season.

Butler has experience carrying a team to the NBA Finals, and of course, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green know how to win at that level. With all three of them on the same mission, all it takes is for them to start clicking, and they could make it hard for their opponents.

Out of the two teams, the Lakers may have the most upside with Doncic and James leading the way. Doncic just made it to the Finals last year, and James has the most experience in the league when it comes to making a run to a championship.