No one could’ve predicted that the Golden State Warriors wouldn’t be back on top of the NBA by 2019, but that’s exactly what happened when injuries in the postseason derailed the team’s chances and they ultimately lost in six games to the Toronto Raptors.
It got even worse when Kevin Durant bolted from town and signed with the Brooklyn Nets. They would go on to trade for D’Angelo Russell, but forced to trade Andre Iguodala as a result. Here’s a breakdown of the lost players from last season:
• Durant
• Iguodala
• Livingston
• Cousins
• Cook
• Jerebko
• Bell
• Jones
• Bogut
• Lee
On top of that, the Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, and Los Angeles Clippers have all gotten stronger in terms of talent.
During Wednesday’s episode of ESPN’s Get Up!, Jalen Rose offered his prediction for who will make the playoffs in the Western Conference. The former NBA player had the Rockets finishing first, while the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Clippers would round out the top 3.
When it came to the Warriors — Rose put them way down as the 7th seed.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NCAA stories via Google! Follow Us
“They’ll be in the seven seed. Steph Curry probably won’t play all 82 games for obvious reasons. Draymond Green is gonna be terrific this year in a contract season,” Rose explained. “Klay Thompson isn’t playing. D’Angelo Russell is gonna supplement them very well on the offensive side. But defensively, he and Steph in the backcourt are gonna struggle against the best guards in the Western Conference.”
That is a really bold prediction, especially when you consider he has the Lakers in the 5th seed, despite them adding Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins.
