Which Pacific Division rival will end up being the biggest threat to the Golden State Warriors?
For many teams, winning their division is a big accomplishment. With some of the stacked divisions in the NBA, it’s an accomplishment in itself to bring home a division crown. For the Golden State Warriors, it’s been an afterthought.
In a division where only one other team has been a playoff team, Golden State has been clinching their division early every season. When it’s NBA Championships that are on the line, a division crown doesn’t mean as much.
Still, it’s always good to keep an eye on those within the division as they’re ultimately the ones that are looking to take over the top spot from Golden State. So who is going to be the team that provides the biggest threat?
Right now, the second best team in the division is still the Los Angeles Clippers. While they traded away Chris Paul, keeping Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and filling out the roster with several quality role players is going to keep them competitive.
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It won’t be enough to compete for a title, but they aren’t going to be bad. Still, that’s an issue with the way the NBA is constructed and they’ll have to decide soon enough if they want to blow it up and hope for something better.
Right now in the interim, the Clippers are the best team in the division Golden State will face this year. Looking beyond this year, it’s likely the Los Angeles Lakers. Now, this is predicated upon Magic Johnson bringing in big names and their young talent taking off.
If LeBron James does indeed end up in Los Angeles, then there is no question as to who the biggest threat is. It seems to be a real possibility as each day goes on and that would make for an interesting rivalry.
The Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns are two young teams that are building through youth. Both have acquired an incredible amount of young talent, but it’s going to take plenty of nurturing and time before they’re able to develop what they have into something special.
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Golden State is looking at another year where they should run through their division and wrap up the crown around the All-Star Break or a little after. That’s crazy to think about how quick they can pull it off, but that’s the way the landscape is unfolding.