There was a fear around league observers (and some in the league) that the dominance of Golden State would force teams to slow down building and aim for 2020 or so when there may be cracks in the Warriors' armor. Instead, the West went Game of Thrones with Houston, Minnesota and other teams loading up for runs. The best team in the NBA was a winner in the off-season too — Kevin Durant took $9.5 million less than his max for the year, and the Warriors retained Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, Zaza Pachulia, plus they made smart additions such as Omri Casspi.