Top 5 teams to challenge GSW in the West
Paul George, Chris Paul, Jimmy Butler
It's not going to be easy for the Golden State Warriors to finish at the top of Western Conference this season. Many important players have been traded to the West that will make life difficult for them.
Houston Rockets have added Chris Paul to their roster and will give a tough fight for all the teams in Western Conference. Also, don't forget the Oklahoma City Thunder, who have added two dependable All-Star caliber players in Paul George and Carmelo Anthony.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have acquired Jimmy Butler, Jamal Crawford and they will join hands with Karl-Anthony Towns and Wiggins to form a better team this season. Also, the San Antonio Spurs having Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Tony Parker alongside the best head coach Gregg Popovich will form a good competitive team as well.
After all the trades this off-season, guess the top-5 team who will give a tough fight to GSW in Western Conference and find out whether your guesses are right.
#5 New Orleans Pelicans
Starting line-up :
Jure Holiday, E'Twaun Moore, Dante Cunningham, Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins.
The New Orleans Pelicans have the most devastating Power Forward(Anthony Davis) and Center (DeMarcus Cousins) combination in the NBA. This team will dominate in defense with this deadly combo.
This team has a good point guard in Jure Holiday and he was expected to lead the team in 3-point shooting and to contribute more to the offensive department. Moore and Cunningham will be the other players to start along with them. If these two guys come good, then this Pelicans team will give a tough fight to GSW because of their size.
New Orleans has managed to include two key players namely Jameer Nelson and Ian Clark to their roster. Both these players will come off from the bench. Along with Jordan Crawford, they have good bench strength and they need to fire to compete against the Warriors. Not to mention Rajon Rondo is yet to make his return.
Key players :
Anthony Davis: 28.4 PPG, 12.8 RPG, 2.6 APG.
DeMarcus Cousins: 28.9 PPG, 13.6 RPG, 5.8 APG.
Jrue Holiday: 13.2 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 6.1 APG.
Last Season Stats :
34-48 in the regular season (10th in the west).