It wasn’t long ago that there was considerable debate about the Oklahoma City Thunder’s potential championship window with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and James Harden on their roster, but what has happened to that franchise since is a testament to how unpredictable the NBA can be.
The Thunder lost to the Miami Heat in the 2012 NBA Finals, traded away Harden to the Houston Rockets for scraps and after getting knocked off in the Western Conference playoffs the follow two years, they hit rock bottom last season when they missed the playoffs entirely after Durant and Westbrook missed most of the year with injuries.
There are too many key factors that could completely change the complexion of a team’s season to definitively project a team’s championship window but the following four teams on this list look safe.
Golden State Warriors
The Warriors completed one of the most dominant seasons in NBA history with an NBA title and their momentum has carried over through a busy offseason over which they were able to keep their core players together. Golden State traded David Lee to the Boston Celtics in order to open up some cap space to lock up Draymond Green with a long-term contract.
Green joins Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodola and Harrison Barnes as core players under contract until at least 2017. The Warriors are undoubtedly among the favorites to repeat as NBA champions this season and with their core locked up they should be contenders for years to come.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland signed Kevin Love to a long-term deal and while LeBron James will maximize his money potential by signing a new contract every summer, he at least appears committed to doing whatever it takes to bring a title to Ohio.
The Cavaliers core three of LeBron, Love and Kyrie Irving is among the best in the NBA and the fact that veteran players want to be a part of this team for the chance to win a title gives them an edge in free agency. Tristan Thompson emerged as a quality contributor while Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov are back for at least one more year but the bottom line is with James, Irving, Love and Thompson, the Cavs can surround them with various free agents and still be a title contender the next handful of seasons.
Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers looked like they were in trouble when DeAndre Jordan committed to signing with the Dallas Mavericks in free agency but he changed his mind and re-signed with Los Angeles. That’s solidified a core that certainly looks like it can contend for a title. Jordan, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are all under contract for the next couple of years and the Clippers have done a nice job surrounding them with a quality supporting cast that includes J.J. Redick, Josh Smith, Paul Pierce and Lance Stephenson. The pressure will be on for Los Angeles to prove itself as a championship contender this season and with so much talent in the mix, their title window appears to be wide open right now.
Houston Rockets
The Thunder and San Antonio Spurs definitely deserve honorable mention in this spot but Oklahoma City didn’t even make the playoffs last year and Durant is in the final year of his contract. As for the Spurs, they have several aging veterans that are close to the end of their careers including their core three of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker.
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Enter Houston. They’re considered a team on the rise after challenging the Warriors for the best record in the Western Conference last season and they have a strong core that features Harden, Dwight Howard, Trevor Ariza and now Ty Lawson. And they have some other quality young talent locked up long-term like Patrick Beverley, first-round pick Sam Dekker and Corey Brewer is around for three more seasons.
The Rockets seem to do an excellent job of acquiring at least one key piece that can help them make a run every season with Smith a sneaky add last season and Lawson being a player with All-Star potential if he can get his life together outside of basketball. Harden is among the league’s premier players and as long as he, Howard, Lawson and Ariza can stay healthy the next couple of seasons, Houston will be an NBA title contender.
