Ranking Warriors' Potential Rivals in New-Look Western Conference

The Golden State Warriors aren't just NBA champions, they are league-changers.

Their collection of four in-prime All-Stars has forced all challengers to either accept defeat or attempt to construct their own superpowers. Blockbuster deals for Jimmy Butler (to Minnesota), Paul George (to Oklahoma City) and Chris Paul (to Houston) prove not everyone is willing to concede the Western Conference.

"It's a weapons race in the NBA," Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey told reporters. "You're either in the weapons race or on the sidelines."

Of course, there's also a difference between being in the race and anywhere close to the Warriors. But while there's still a gap between them and everyone else, there's also a hierarchy shaping up beneath the top spot.

The West's cellar-dwellers aren't even participating in the race, so they've been excluded from our exercise. But there are 10 teams—11 for our purposes, as we're evaluating the Utah Jazz with and without All-Star free agent Gordon Hayward—clamoring for a shot at the throne, each ranked by overall strength and ability to challenge the three-time defending conference champs.

11. Denver Nuggets

Nikola Jokic is one of the league's rising stars (17.7 points, 11.6 rebounds, 6.1 assists after the All-Star break), and a Jamal Murray-Gary Harris backcourt is loaded with intrigue. But Denver's defense is abysmal (29th last season), and the offense appears in danger of losing its top scorer to free agency (Danilo Gallinari). Landing Paul Millsap would help on both fronts, but he's a hot commodity in this market.

10. Utah Jazz (without Gordon Hayward)

It's fair to question whether Hayward's defection would send this franchise into a rebuild. The Jazz would still have a centerpiece in Rudy Gobert—eighth in ESPN.com's real plus-minus—and a handful of interesting prospects, but Hayward was their most skilled scorer and shot-creator. Defense and smart coaching would keep them close to the playoffs, but offense could be a possession-by-possession grind.

9. Memphis Grizzlies

The seeming conclusion of the grit-and-grind era is fine. The Grizzlies needed an extra gear not only to keep up in the modern NBA, but also to unlock the full offensive abilities of Marc Gasol and Mike Conley (both of whom are coming off career scoring years). The max contract given to Chandler Parsons, though, appears a crippling miscalculation. Memphis' run of seven straight playoff trips is in peril.

8. New Orleans Pelicans

There aren't nine more talented trios than Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins and Jrue Holiday, but there might not be any that are raising more red flags. Davis has missed at least 14 games in four of his five seasons, while Holiday has sat out 122 the past four. Cousins has a two-year run atop the league's technical fouls list. There's too much volatility to buy this core, especially with an underwhelming supporting cast.

7. Los Angeles Clippers

Trading Chris Paul could have triggered a full-on demolition, but Blake Griffin's expected five-year max deal, as reported by The Vertical's Shams Charania, will keep the Clippers competitive. If he stays healthy—and that's a gigantic if—he'll be a fantasy juggernaut with super-sized stats. But LA is clearly backtracking overall. Paul's on-court command will be missed, as will JJ Reddick, who agreed to a deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. And the void at small forward remains.

6. Portland Trail Blazers

The good news: The Blazers went 14-6 with a top-five efficiency ranking during the 20 games Jusuf Nurkic played for them. The bad news: Portland's defense and salary-cap situation are both disastrous. The offense should again be electric, with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum piling up points from the perimeter. But this roster is too flawed to contend and too expensive to fix.

The Minnesota Timberwolves' draft-night deal for Jimmy Butler was more than a heist. It was a franchise-wide credibility boost, both to the club's immediate potential and to head coach Tom Thibodeau's instructions.

Starting with the former, it's hard not to get hyperbolic regarding the Butler-Karl-Anthony Towns-Andrew Wiggins troika. It'll start next season as the league's lone trio to all finish 2016-17 with top-16 scoring averages. Butler is a two-way wrecking ball and right in his prime at 27 years old. Wiggins and Towns were No. 1 picks in respective drafts, and both are among the Association's top 22-and-under talents.

"When you're talking about Big Threes in the league, now we're in that conversation," Towns said, per Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "We should be great. This is what dynasties are made of when you put players together with a bunch of talent and they mesh well."

The Pups already stood to grow on their own this offseason. But with Butler around, there's now a living testament to Thibodeau's teaching. Butler's rise from 30th pick to three-time All-Star (and three-time All-Defense) gives meaning to the gravel-voiced coach's message. It's something the youngsters needed to see, since Towns and Wiggins aren't close to the defenders their natural abilities indicate they should be.

Minnesota has already addressed some of its spacing issues by dealing away Ricky Rubio (career 31.5 three-point percentage) and adding Jeff Teague (35.5). Adding another impact piece at power forward—it's secured a meeting with Paul Millsap, sources told Basketball Insiders' Michael Scotto—could accelerate its transition from intriguing to scary.

The Wolves still need to prove they're as good in practice as they look on paper, since they're still a young squad with defensive issues (26th in efficiency) and no track record together . But their talent should easily earn them a postseason spot, and a Millsap-caliber addition might lock up a top-four seed.

The Utah Jazz have boosted their win total each of the past three seasons. That alone would make roster continuity a desire, plus retaining talent is almost always the best option for no-nightlife, smaller market organizations.

If the Jazz can keep both Hayward and versatile swingman Joe Ingles, who agreed to re-sign Saturday, per Wojnarowski, they could keep ascending. They had the league's No. 3 defense last season and, in Ricky Rubio, added a point guard with top-two defensive real plus-minus position rankings in three of the last four campaigns. And while the offense moves at a glacial pace, it's still an upper-half attack that plays at a top-seven level with Hayward at the wheel.

Rubio's shooting is always a concern, but the Jazz could return four players who hit 37-plus percent from three (Hayward, Ingles, Joe Johnson and Rodney Hood). Rubio, in turn, could ignite more transition chances and smooth the half-court execution with his vision (career-high 9.1 assists per game) and ball control (3.50 assists per turnover). At the other end, he can elevate Utah's already elite unit.

"The Jazz benefit from having long, athletic defenders who can switch effectively and protect the rim better than just about any other team in the league. Rubio, similarly, can guard well in space, switch onto bigger guards when necessary and has a knack for generating steals," Basketball Insiders' Jesse Blancarte wrote.

Having a top-shelf distributor should help the Jazz draw more offense out of Gobert and Derrick Favors. There's a fairly clear path to top-10 efficiency ranks both ways, which history holds as a basic requirement for title contention.

Why only fourth on the rankings, then? Because superstars still drive this league, and even with Hayward, the Jazz may not have any. It's much easier to cast this group as a pesky problem for contenders as opposed to a full-fledged contender itself.

Magicians are marveling at what Sam Presti pulled off. Pulling a rabbit out of a hat takes practice; turning Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis into Paul George takes otherworldly talent (or a rushing-for-no-reason trade partner).

The Oklahoma City Thunder entered the offseason with a roster begging for upgrades, a bloated cap situation and future draft debts. They seemed stuck, until Indy decided an overpaid shooting guard and an underwhelming freshman was enough to part with a four-time All-Star.

Even if George's future is painted in purple and gold, the Thunder have at least one season in which to pair the sport's best solo act with a perfect sidekick. Russell Westbrook willed last year's group to 47 wins—and himself to the record books—so it's invigorating to think what he'll do with the right help.

"If you drew up the ideal second banana for Westbrook, it would look a lot like George," ESPN.com's Zach Lowe wrote. "He's comfortable working off the ball as a spot-up guy, and slithering around screens for catch-and-shoot jumpers—or catch-and-drive attacks in the middle of the floor."

George and Westbrook belong among the league's best duos. More importantly, George will add new dimensions to this offense. Westbrook was the lone trigger man last season, and everything collapsed without him. George will relieve some of that burden, and will stretch the defense as a three-point sniper (39.3 percent) and locking down premier scorers the other way.

This doesn't solve all of OKC's issues. The roster is thin, the spacing doesn't look great and there could be two starting gigs up for grabs. Andre Roberson could fill one if he returns, but he'll be a costly one-way player. With limited options to address the 4, OKC might have give Jerami Grant major minutes. The Westbrook-George tandem might clean up a lot, but that only goes so far in the star-studded West.

It's been a quiet start to what was seemingly going to be an ambitious offseason for the San Antonio Spurs. Stars and semi-stars both floated in the same rumor pools as the Alamo City—right alongside the latest batch of LaMarcus Aldridge trade speculation—but everything has come up dry, save for Patty Mills' reported return.

"There were big hopes for the Spurs to land a major player this summer and it just doesn't look like that's going to happen," CBS Sports' Matt Moore wrote. "Meanwhile, Jonathan Simmons is reportedly meeting with several teams. Losing him would be a big blow to San Antonio's wing versatility."

But closing the gap with the Warriors is the motivation for adding pieces this offseason. Even if the Spurs stand pat—or weather a loss or two—they'll be right up there with the non-Oakland-based elites.

San Antonio trailed only the world champs in wins and net efficiency last season. Kawhi Leonard matured into a heavyweight MVP candidate (third in voting). Aldridge had a career-best defensive box plus/minus for his second straight season (1.3). Gregg Popovich remained Gregg Popovich.

Before Leonard went down in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, San Antonio challenged Golden State like no other team had or would. The core of that squad should be back in place, albeit with a banged-up Tony Parker but also a better-developed Dejounte Murray and a pair of draft picks (Derrick White and Jaron Blossomgame). If Manu Ginobili walks, he'll hurt more sentimentally than on the court.

The Spurs are the first team here with elite, established talent and depth. They're also the first that wouldn't require a miracle to send a scare into the Warriors. But unless San Antonio's offseason luck unexpectedly changes, this is no longer Golden State's biggest intraconference test.

Chris Paul has played the floor general so well he has nine All-Star selections to his credit and the revered nickname of "point god." James Harden primarily played the position for the first time last season and promptly posted his best-ever player efficiency rating (27.4) and a 29-point, 11-assist, eight-rebound stat line only Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson had previously produced.

Well, both play for the Houston Rockets now, so both will almost assuredly lose touches. It might take some adjusting—from them and head coach Mike D'Antoni—but what many presume to be a problem could wind up among Houston's greatest assets.

"Harden and Paul can share, and be better for it," Lowe wrote. "Almost every championship team in history meshed two ball-dominant stars who learned to play off of each other. A lot of those duos and trios didn't bring the combined outside shooting of Harden and Paul."

The Rockets now have initiators on both sides, each an elite pick-and-roll creator. They can run the two-man game with each other or put bouncy big man Clint Capela in screen-and-rolls or 6'10" sniper Ryan Anderson in pick-and-pops. As one works, the other can spot up around the arc. Paul hit a career-best 41.1 percent from three last season, while Harden trailed only the Splash Brothers with 262 triples.

That part of the equation works. The rest is worrisome. Houston has whittled its roster down to the bare essentials, and it's tough to tell how it will fill back up.

That said, the Rockets have taken a step in the right direction by adding P.J. Tucker. The signing, as first reported by Shams Charania of The Vertical, shows that building up the defense is a priority. There can never be enough wing defenders to throw at the Warriors, and while there's still work to be done, Tucker gives Houston a gritty, obnoxious defender (characteristics that also define Paul) to help disrupt opposing offenses.

Ultimately, the Rockets have two stars to the Warriors' four, and that's enough to make Golden State a clear favorite in a playoff series. But on paper, the Rockets look like the Warriors' biggest roadblock out of the West.

Statistics used courtesy of NBA.com and Basketball Reference.

Zach Buckley covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @ZachBuckleyNBA.