Who are the Warriors’ biggest threats in West?

5. Oklahoma City Thunder

The Golden State Warriors will face an emotional and new-look OKC Thunder team.

Projected starting lineup: Russell Westbrook/Victor Oladipo/Andre Roberson/Ersan Ilyasova/Steven Adams

Welp.

Who knows what the Oklahoma City Thunder will be next season? They could be really great with Russell Westbrook calling all the shots (like he’s tried to do for the last few seasons) or a hot mess that crashes and burns right from the get go.

Or somewhere in between.

Really, I have no idea what to make of the Thunder. They have a fantastic one-two punch with Westbrook and Steven Adams. Oladipo is an interesting piece; a player who has had flashes of being really good, but has mostly disappointed. Roberson is a great defender who can be taken out of games because of his offensive ineptitude.

OKC’s depth will be an issue, as they’ll probably have to rely on guys like Kyle Singler, Anthony Morrow, and Nick Collison. Enes Kanter is still on the team and he can provide a fantastic offensive boost off the bench, but his struggles on the other end of the floor are very, very real.

The Thunder will have an interesting starting five that, if they all get hot together, can be a dominant team on any given night. Unfortunately, their wings’ inconsistencies combined with Westbrook’s penchant for poor decision making make it hard to lock this team in as a top 5 squad in the West.

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But they’ll surely be an emotional bunch whenever they go up against their old leader who they felt betrayed them. The Chesapeake Energy Arena has one of the best home crowds in all of the NBA. They’ll be an energized group playing for their own pride especially when they have to defend their home floor.

They might not be one of the best teams in the West, but behind their explosive point guard, they could give the Warriors trouble in the regular season and in any postseason series.

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