Golden State Warriors: Bold predictions for a new era
By Alan Mena
3. The Warriors finish 5th in the Western Conference
The Golden State Warriors are undoubtedly in the more difficult conference, making their chances of overcoming this feat slimmer than the other two predictions.
Considering that now the NBA’s best teams consist primarily of star tandems and that there are several teams in the Western Conference who are legitimate title contenders, this prediction will be the least likely to occur. However, if other contenders suffer injuries or Klay Thompson returns early, the Warriors’ chances would increase drastically.
The Vegas over/under figures have shown that the Warriors have the ninth-most difficult schedule in the NBA, with their schedule lessening in difficulty after the All-Star break. This means that the Warriors will need to win as many games as possible in the first half of the season if they even want a decent chance at the fifth seed.
In relation to other Western Conference playoff teams (and projected ones), the Warriors aren’t in the worst position but do have a stronger schedule than the top five teams, which further emphasizes their underdog label this upcoming season.
According to Caesars’ Sportbook, the Warriors are projected to win 47 games next season. The Warriors haven’t won as few as 47 games since the 2012-13 season, which was the second-to-last year that was led by Mark Jackson before they became a dynasty.
If Vegas’ projection is correct, then the Warriors will struggle to make the playoffs because several teams will be fighting for a spot in the fifth-eighth seeds due to a higher competitive balance in the Western Conference.
However, knowing the experience that the Warriors still possess, these projections are highly unlikely to occur since everyone has seen them prevail when the odds were against them (against Houston in the 2019 playoffs and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2016 Western Conference Finals).