Warriors’ Draymond Green identifies five Western Conference playoff contenders

There are levels to this, and in the NBA’s Western Conference, Warriors forward Draymond Green believes only a select few teams are true championship contenders. It should come as no surprise that one of those teams, in his opinion, is Golden State, but who are the other teams Green views as legitimate threats early on in the 2025-26 NBA season?The Warriors forward discussed the first week of the season on the latest episode of his podcast, “The Draymond Green Show,” and listed the five teams, including the Warriors, that he believes are true contenders right now.“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. “Denver, obviously [Nikola Joki], 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...