After winning two championships in three consecutive NBA Finals appearances, the Golden State Warriors re-signed their core players (Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Andre Iguodala, and Shaun Livingston) while improving their bench depth (Nick Young and Omri Casspi). As a result, many believe they are the league's dynasty in the making.
However, teams are not resting as the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers completed a blockbuster trade while the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder improved. According to ESPN's The Jump, Draymond Green believes the San Antonio Spurs are their toughest challenge as transcribed by Rod Wolkenbrod of Air Alamo:
âFor me, itâs San Antonio. I think Minnesotaâs gonna be much improved â I think theyâre gonna be a tough team to beat. Houston improved â theyâre gonna be a tough team to beat. OKC improved. I just donât wanna think you can put anyone above San Antonio, because of everything theyâve done. Theyâve never had a dropoff; they won 60-something games last year. I just always think San Antonio.â
Throughout the offseason, most have mentioned the Rockets in the Western Conference and Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference as their main competitors. However, the Spurs had an interesting summer as they re-signed their core players (Pau Gasol, Manu Ginobili, and Patty Mills) while signing Rudy Gay.
As teams are looking to dethrone the Warriors, they are focusing on themselves. If they remain relatively healthy, it will be difficult for any team to beat them in a seven-game series when they have four All-Stars in the prime years of their careers.