Are the Warriors a Good Bet in Crowded Pacific Division?

Post Durant Warriors Still a Dangerous Team

With the dust finally settling in the NBA's free agency
period for the summer of 2019, teams are finally starting to get a clear
picture as to what they and their competition will look like. And with the Los
Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers coming out as the clear winners of this
portion of the year, the Golden State Warriors are finally in a position where
they are not the favorites to win the title. The question now is if the
Warriors are a good bet to come out on top of the Pacific division.

The
competitive landscape

Unlike in previous seasons, there are teams that should
actually be competitors to the Warriors at the top of the Western Conference
playing in Golden State's own division. Those teams are, of course, the Lakers
and Clippers. And the Clippers may be considered the favorites to win the
entire championship this year, with the surprising
additions of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. With both players being
elite two-way players, they could quickly make the Clippers the best team in
the league.

As for the Lakers, they traded for Anthony Davis this
offseason, and are adding additional pieces who could further bolster their
roster. The addition of DeMarcus
Cousins to go along with Davis and LeBron James makes for a fearsome trio
that is fit to go toe to toe with both the Clippers and Warriors. The question
for handicappers will be if those teams can hold off the Warriors to earn a
division title.

Still
the team to beat

Before the start of the season, the Warriors might still be
the team to beat in the Pacific. The biggest reason for this is something that
all NBA picks should take
into account: continuity. The Lakers and Clippers may well endure growing pains
this season, as several star players get used to playing together on some of
the biggest stages in the NBA. The Warriors may not be in perfect health, but
they know how to work together within the system of head coach Steve Kerr.

In addition to the edge that their continuity gives them,
they are also still an incredible basketball team. Despite losing Kevin Durant
in free agency and Klay Thompson to injury, they will still boast former
unanimous MVP Steph Curry and one of the most versatile players in the league
in Draymond Green. Expect Kerr to do an incredible job of finding new wrinkles
in their offense to get Curry open, which will keep the Warriors at or near the
top of the conference even before Thompson's eventual return.

Not only are the Clippers and Lakers favored to win the
Pacific over the Warriors, but they are also favored to win the NBA Finals over
them as well. For the first time in a long time, the Golden State Warriors will
be underdogs to finish at the top of their division. If the rest of the league
should expect anything from them during the Kerr and Curry era, it is that
being an underdog won't be enough to stop the Warriors from accomplishing what
they want to.