The NBA season is only weeks away, and though there were a lot of changes this summer, most of the teams at the top remain the same. Every team is hopeful in preseason, but only a handful have realistic odds¹ of a championship and even those are slight versus² the Golden State Warriors³.

有几周新赛季就将拉开大幕。尽管这个休赛期并不平静，但顶级强队还是那几家。虽然在季前赛很多球队都展现了一定的竞争力，但真正有实力争夺总冠军的屈指可数。而在他们之中，金州勇士又是鹤立鸡群的那支球队。

Our first power rankings of the year begin with a four-part look at the different tiers of NBA teams—starting with the title contenders:

我们今年的第一份权力榜将把30支球队分成四档，首先是第一档，即总冠军争夺者：

1.Golden State Warriors

金州勇士

For most of last season, the Golden State Warriors seemed inevitable⁴. Seventy-three regular season wins weren’t impossible; they were a birthright. An NBA championship seemed a mere⁵ formality.

在上赛季大部分时间里，金州勇士都处于无敌状态。他们闲庭信步般豪取73胜，冠军似乎已是囊中之物，季后赛不过是走走过场。

The NBA season is only weeks away, and thoughthere were a lot of changes this summer, most ofthe teams at the top remain the same. Every team ishopeful in preseason, but only a handful haverealistic odds of a championship and even thoseare slight versus the Golden State Warriors.

有几周新赛季就将拉开大幕。尽管这个休赛期并不平静，但顶级强队还是那几家。虽然在季前赛很多球队都展现了一定的竞争力，但真正有实力争夺总冠军的屈指可数。而在他们之中，金州勇士又是鹤立鸡群的那支球队。

Our first power rankings of the year begin with afour-part look at the different tiers of NBA teams—starting with the title contenders:

我们今年的第一份权力榜将把30支球队分成四档，首先是第一档，即总冠军争夺者：

1.Golden State Warriors

金州勇士

For most of last season, the Golden State Warriors seemed inevitable. Seventy-three regularseason wins weren’t impossible; they were a birthright. An NBA championship seemed a mereformality.

在上赛季大部分时间里，金州勇士都处于无敌状态。他们闲庭信步般豪取73胜，冠军似乎已是囊中之物，季后赛不过是走走过场。

So, even after a brilliant offseason partnered the reigning⁶ two-time MVP (Stephen Curry) withthe previous one (Kevin Durant)—somehow upgrading the Warriors already considerable topend talent.

勇士的休赛期运作令人难忘，他们成功挖来前MVP得主凯文-杜兰特，让他和近两年MVP得主斯蒂芬-库里组成搭档，看起来原本就实力超群的勇士似乎已经不是地球人可以阻挡的了。

the preseason is still too early to move this group atop the all-time hierarchy⁷ of NBA teams.

尽管从季前赛能得到的信息很有限，但勇士的夺冠可能性无疑是最大的。

But these Warriors certainly present more possibilities than any other we’ve ever seen. Bycomparison, the offseason that joined LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade⁸ wassimilarly potent⁹, but—the uniqueness of James aside—in a more traditional way.

当年热火凑齐三巨头的时候也是尽显冠军相，但勇士的这次操作显然更令人兴奋（当然詹姆斯是独一无二的）。

A dynamic point guard who combines unparalleled accuracy with infinite range, perhaps thebest shooting wing pairing in NBA history and a power forward who can defend all fivepositions, space the floor and work as the primary playmaker.

一个投篮神准、射程近乎无限的控卫；一个可能是史上最强的侧翼投手；一个能防守五个位置、可以拉开空间、并且担当进攻发起者的大前锋。

The skill sets from each position are so far off the map that even Don Nelson in his primetripping on acid couldn’t have dreamed this group up.

当初没有人想到这套阵容会有这么大的威力，即便是“疯狂科学家”老尼尔森在他的实验室里也不一定能调制出这样的组合。