After the Los Angeles Lakers revamped their roster with the additions of Steve Nash, Antawn Jamison, Jodie Meeks and Dwight Howard, many have referred to the Lakers as the team to beat this upcoming NBA season.
Let's be honest, at this point there's only two teams that can really thwart the Lakers' ability to win the franchise's 17th NBA title. One being the reigning champions the Miami Heat and the other being the reigning Western Conference champions the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Both the Heat and the Thunder have paid their respect to the great off-season the Lakers' front office put together, but Heat star Chris Bosh has already admitted the Lakers are the best team on paper and now Thunder star Kevin Durant has agreed to those words.
In an interview with Yahoo! Sports Durant said the Lakers are the favorites based on the talent on their roster, but still believes his Thunder are the team to beat in the Western Conference.
"People outside, fans, media, of course they are going to say [the Lakers are the favorites] because on paper they have the best lineup in the league. But you still got to play the games. We respect everybody. We are going to go through the league respecting everybody as well."
With Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden leading the way, the Thunder remain to have a plethora of talent to their roster.
At this point, a Lakers-Thunder Western Conference clash seems imminent as both teams are clearly the two best teams in the conference.