The Golden State Warriors are good.
Really, really good.
Think back to the offseason two years ago. The Warriors had the best regular season in NBA history (73-9) and had just choked away a three games to one lead in the Finals. They had become the punchline of every joke on Twitter. LeBron James was celebrating winning the championship he promised to Cleveland.
After watching James and company go beast mode and end Golden State’s season in disappointment, the front office looked at the roster and thought “how can we improve this team and take back our trophy?”
Enter Kevin Durant: The guy who people consider the second best player in the association. He joins an already star-studded lineup with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. Everyone looked at this squad and thought of the damage they could do to the rest of the league.
They did all that and more.
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The Warriors walked through the regular season and then made quick work of the playoffs. Going into the Finals, everyone was hoping for another amazing six or seven-game series. The Warriors dominated like they did all year and won in five.
This previous offseason was all about KD as well. On the good side, he took a nearly seven million dollar pay cut to stay with Golden State and help them hold onto Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston. Only a couple of months later, he was caught on his fake Twitter account bashing his former team, the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Taking a look at the team as a whole, we all know what they are bringing to the table. The big pieces are Durant, Curry, Green, and Thompson. Coach Steve Kerr rounds out his starting five with physical big man Zaza Pachulia. Their bench is a very good group too. They can bring the aforementioned Livingston and Iguodala off the pine as well as Patrick McCaw, Omri Casspi, and Nick Young.
While the Wolves did revamp their roster dramatically this offseason, will it be enough to match up with the defending NBA champs?