Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has never been shy about sharing his thoughts, and this week, he made it clear which teams he believes are built to contend for a title this season.
The four-time NBA champion broke down his early impressions of the 2025–26 campaign and revealed the five Western Conference teams he currently sees as legitimate championship threats.
“When I look at the conference, I think the true contenders in my mind, when I think about this, is OKC, yours truly, the Dubs. Back in The Dubs Invitational,” Green said on the latest episode of The Draymond Green Show. “Denver, obviously [Nikola Jokić], champion, always going to give them a chance, they’re always going to be right there. A matchup nightmare for everybody. The way [Aaron Gordon’s] been playing, [he’s] looked good. They’re always right there, they’re going to make a run for it.
“And then I think you’ve got to look at both LA teams, both of those teams need good breaks. Obviously you’ve got [LeBron James] starting off the season on the bench, unhealthy. We just found out Luka [Dončić’s] going to be out for at least a week with some injuries. So they’ll need the break, and then obviously the Clippers, they’ll need Kawhi [Leonard] to be healthy.”
Green added, “Those are the teams I see right now out the gate that I’m like, ‘Yeah, those are the contenders in the West. ”
Those five teams, the Thunder, Warriors, Nuggets, Lakers, and Clippers, currently sit among the top half of the Western Conference standings. Green’s list notably left out last season’s No. 6 seed Minnesota Timberwolves and the Houston Rockets, who added superstar Kevin Durant over the summer.
Right now, OKC are the only undefeated team in that list. However, a team that Green didn’t mention was the Spurs.
They are on a historic 4-0 run to start the season and Victor Wembanyama is doing everything he can to make it 5-0, which would be in line with the Thunder’s record.
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