Could Year 2 with Jimmy Butler Help Golden State Beat OKC?

It's felt like a majority of the Western Conference has made moves throughout the summer to bolster their respective rosters, but that hasn't been the case for the Golden State Warriors. There's a possibility they trade Jonathan Kuminga before the start of the regular season, though other than that, it's been a relatively quiet offseason.

This is intentional on behalf of the Warriors. Last season was their first glimpse at what Jimmy Butler could bring to the table, and it was rather successful. They got bounced out of the second round by the Minnesota Timberwolves rather quickly, but the chemistry and veteran talent was there to show enough promise moving forward.

Now, it gets a full season of Butler, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and more to work together. While that trio is certainly aging, Butler and Curry still rank among some of the best players in the NBA right now. Given all of their experience, it's hard to count them out of a playoff series.

The Oklahoma City Thunder didn't meet Golden State in the playoffs last season, but lost the season series 2-1. However, all of those games came before the Butler trade, so there isn't anything to base on of how the Thunder would match up with the new-look Warriors.

Golden State will be one of the more intriguing teams to watch out for in the West because of this, as Oklahoma City searches for back-to-back championships. The competition has been raised across the board, and the Warriors are still very much in that conversation. Despite not being quite as stacked as the Denver Nuggets or Houston Rockets, they are capable of being a top-five seed.

Simply having Curry will keep Golden State in contention, but to topple the Thunder, it's going to take a lot. Whether it has done enough to prepare for that will be determined in the regular season, or by the time a possible trade of Kuminga comes to fruition.

The Warriors are one of the more inevitable teams in the league. More times than not, they'll be a threat to your favorite team. Oklahoma City will just have to wait and see.