After making wholesale changes to their roster, the Golden State Warriors have been mostly written off by some who have deemed an end to their dynasty. While Kevin Durant's exit surely ends an era of domination, new Los Angeles Lakers forward Jared Dudley argues he sees the Dubs making the playoffs, so long as Stephen Curry plays a vast majority of games in good health:

“I think it’s going to be a struggle not only just because of incorporating [D'Angelo Russell] but them missing Klay [Thompson],” said Dudley, according to Ethan Strauss of The Athletic. “I still see them as they playoff team, maybe a lower-seeded team, but that also entails health. You don’t have that luxury, you know, Steph got to play 70-plus games.”

The Warriors will be largely depending on Curry and Draymond Green's health this season, knowing they will miss Thompson for perhaps half of the season as he recovers from a torn ACL. Curry simply won't have the same help to keep opponents honest and will be hounded by defenses that target him as the go-to scorer, though D'Angelo Russell will help.

Yet Dudley thinks the Warriors have done well enough to surround Curry with able players who will help take some pressure off his shoulders:

“For sure. It’s going to be a lot of pressure on Steph,” said Dudley. “Traps and taking care of taking him out of the game and making Draymond and these other guys have to hit shots and you know, but they got high-IQ players and I think Willie Cauley-Stein was a nice pickup for them. D’Angelo to score. So I still see them, you know, it’s not going to be a team that’s rock bottom. Not that at all, but I could still see them making the playoffs and even win a series, once Klay came back.”

Making the playoffs will be a tough proposition for the first time in a long time, but the potential is endless if the Warriors can go into the playoffs healthy and hitting their stride at the right time.