This past off-season, Kevin Durant changed the landscape of the NBA by deciding to take his talents to San Francisco and play for the Golden State Warriors. This angered a lot of NBA fans, including Thunder fans as they felt betrayed by Durant. The Warriors let a lot of key players walk away, like Harrison Barnes, Festus Ezeli, and Marreese Speights becauae they also traded away Andrew Bogut. Adding KD made the Warriors from one of the most loved teams in the NBA to one of the most hated, as people call the Warriors a super team. With such a stacked team, a lot of people believe that the Warriors will win the championship this year. I'm here to tell you that won't happen. I got five reasons why they won't win this year.
1. Team Chemistry
In order to sign Kevin Durant, the Warriors decided to shake up the roster. The players that are left from last year's team are Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, James Michael McAdoo, Klay Thompson Ian Clark, and Anderson Varejao. With a lot of new additions, team chemistry will be an issue. Also having three of the best shooters in the NBA will be a problem. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Kevin Durant could possibly go through a power struggle as the Warriors try to out this altogether.
2. Lack of Rim Protection
While they were trying to add Kevin Durant to the Warriors, they let Festus Ezeli and Marreese Speights go to a different team and traded away Andrew Bogut to the Mavericks. They added Zaza Pachulia, Javale McGee, and David West via free agency and drafted Damian Jones out of Vanderbilt. This is a downgrade from what they had last year. This would be a problem against teams like the Cavaliers, Spurs, and many other teams who like to attack the basket.
3. Pressure
The Golden State Warriors are under a huge amount of pressure this year as they have a "super team." The expectations are basically championship or bust. With this roster, anything less than a championship would be a failed season. Everyone expects a super team to win. The Warriors have two of the top five players in the NBA along with one of the best shooting guards and power forwards in the league with Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. All eyes will be on the Warriors all season as they will be looked at every single game no matter who they are playing.
4. 3-1
The Warriors were one game away last year from being one of the best teams in NBA history. They lost the lead and the series as LeBron James willed his team to it's first NBA championship in league history. After that, there were memes all around social media about them blowing a three to one lead in the NBA finals. This will haunt the Golden State Warriors for a long time. They finished with the best regular season record in NBA history, but failed to win the NBA championship. Knowing they were one win away from being one of the best teams in NBA history will always be in the back of their heads.
5. LeBron and the Cleveland Cavaliers
LeBron James played one of his best NBA finals performances of his career to finally give Cleveland that long awaited championship. He led the Cavaliers down three to one to win the series. The Cavaliers have a mental advantage over the Warriors because of the Warriors' finals collapse. The Cavaliers have nothing to prove but the Warriors do. They want to redeem themselves from that finals performance. Also, the Cleveland Cavaliers have one of the best point guards in the NBA in Kyrie Irving and the best player in the NBA in LeBron James. The Warriors want to face the Cavaliers as they have started a great rivalry.
This "super team" has a lot of expectations this year and don't be surprised if they don't win this year. The Miami Heat team with LeBron, Wade, and Bosh didn't win their first year. Also the Lakers super team with Gary Payton and Karl Malone didn't win either, so don't expect an automatic championships this season just because they have a great roster.
