Golden State Warriors: 3 bold predictions for 2018-19 season

2. The Warriors will not be the first seed

The Golden State Warriors will not finish with the best record in the Western Conference for a few reasons.

First off, the Western Conference has grown stronger. The Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder are prepared to make another push for the throne. Meanwhile, teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers have gotten instantly better by the signing of LeBron James, whose presence is sure to shake up the entire conference.

Furthermore, other teams have been improving as well. The development of the younger players on teams like the Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz and the Minnesota Timberwolves will make the conference deadly from top to bottom. These teams are full of youth and hungry for a chance to prove themselves.

Lastly, the team should be making it a point to insert DeMarcus Cousins into the lineup midway through the season. Adding in a player as talented as Cousins will require some growing pains. The Warriors will likely go through a rough patch at some point this season as they adjust to their new style of play.

The Warriors will not be as interested in dominating during the regular season. They learned their lesson from over exhausting themselves in the 2015-16 season by winning 73 games. The energy they used on having a historic regular season likely played a role in them losing in the NBA Finals that year. Because of this, Golden State will lack the desperation to compete in the regular season.