Throughout the vast majority of the 2024-25 campaign, the OKC Thunder have been widely viewed as the clear favorites to take home the Larry O'Brien Trophy come season's end.
Considering they hold the best record in the league at 44-10, are on pace toward boasting the greatest Net rating in league history, and are only just starting to get to full health as a team, it's hard to argue against this lofty status.
However, despite what the odds and betting professionals say, Draymond Green seems to be overly confident in his Warriors' chances of coming away from the season with the franchise's fifth championship in 11 years, especially after Golden State attained All-Star Jimmy Butler at the February 6 trade deadline as he said during All-Star Weekend:
"Since [Butler's] been here we've gone into every game thinking and believing we're going to win that game and that goes a long way in this league... He's brought back that belief and I think we're going to win a championship... I'm sorry, I said I think we're going to win a championship but I lied. We are going to win the championship."
Now, while these remarks by the four-time All-Star may have drawn some serious attention from fans and media outlets alike over the past few days, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander doesn't appear to be giving them too much credence as the Thunder centerpiece completely downplayed the significance of Green's words during a press conference this past weekend.
Thunder star downplays significance of Draymond Green's title promise
"I'd expect him to say that being on the Golden State Warriors and playing basketball for them. I hope he wouldn't say they'd lose and I guess we'll have to wait and see," Gilgeous-Alexander said.
As things currently stand, the Thunder have a sizable 16-win edge over Golden State (28-27) in the Western Conference standings, with OKC residing in first place and the Warriors ranking all the way down at 10.
In other words, if the regular season were to start today, the Dubs would barely find themselves making the cut for the Play-In Tournament.
Though they have managed to go 3-1 during Butler's young tenure in the Bay Area, four games are far too small a sample size to confidently say his addition is bound to thrust them up the standings, let alone lead them to an NBA Championship.
Of course, what's worth noting is that the Warriors without the 35-year-old's services established themselves as one of just two teams to have beaten the Thunder more than once this year, as they've already won their season series 2-1.
That said, all three of these games saw Oklahoma City at sub-full-strength, with stud center Chet Holmgren playing just five total minutes against Golden State due to his nagging hip injury.
With all this being said, as Gilgeous-Alexander correctly pointed out, Green's comments shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. After all, he plays for the dang team!
Until Golden State's new core trio of him, Butler, and Stephen Curry begin to make moves up the Western Conference standings, his remarks should be viewed as a mere self-confidence booster.
At the moment, SGA doesn't seem to be worried about the Warriors even with the six-time All-Star now in tow, and neither should the rest of Thunder nation.