Where would you have had the Warriors before Klay's injury? Just out of curiosity.
That second tier but assessing their realistic chances of winning the whole thing is a tough one. Truth is we haven’t seen them play at full strength since June 2019 and it’s a long time in basketball. They were diabolical beginning of last season before Curry got injured but a) that was only 4 games, b) Klay wasn’t there. Even with Draymond we have no idea how good he still is. They’ve basically gone 18 months without playing serious basketball.
I like their depth beyond the ‘big 3’ though. Oubre is a very solid wing, better than Barnes was. I think if you asked Wiggins to be your sixth man, which he would have been if Klay stayed healthy, I think he would blossom. I like the addition of Wiseman and Paschall looks like a solid option off the bench. Even their recent acquisitions of Wanamaker and Bazemore have been good I think.
I would definitely not be writing them off for the title. Even if they lost 20% of their edge from 2016-19 they should have still been damn good players, and their depth has gotten better.
They could still make the playoffs this year with those play-ins, it’s not absurd to think they may still be a top 10 team in the West ahead of the likes of Kings, Pelicans, Thunder, Wolves, Spurs or even anyone from current playoffs ‘contenders’.