Ranking 2016-2017 NBA Championship Contenders

Here we find ourselves in August, watching the United States Men's Basketball Team trounce opposing countries in the Olympics. It's close to competitive basketball -- but it's just not the NBA.

With the regular season less than three months away, let's have a look at the leading title contenders.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Here's some cold hard truth for you, Steemers. LeBron James is the best basketball player we've ever seen play the game. No, he doesn't have the championship rings some others have, but that's a team accomplishment. Nobody thinks Derek Fisher was a better point guard than John Stockton, rings be damned. No, he doesn't hit the turnaround jumper the way Jordan did. He can't shoot like Bird, rebound like Malone or protect the rim like Russel.

The thing is, nobody -- and I mean nobody -- can do everything LeBron can do. There has never been such an influential presence on the court.

Even when surrounded by a roster of misfits, he took the Cavaliers to the finals in 2007. He was 23.

This roster has been built very well around him, with shooting, defense, and a supremely gifted sidekick by the name of Kyrie Irving.

This is LeBron's league -- until someone takes it from him.

Golden State Warriors

After posting an historic 73-win season, the Warriors seemingly got better on paper by adding league stalwart Kevin Durant. The move is enough to bump the Warriors ahead of Cleveland for next season's outlook in the eyes of many, but digging deeper shows some startling flaws in the way this roster is now built.

The Warriors have long tried to build around a dynamic scoring guard -- from the days of Gilbert Arenas, through the Monta Ellis era and into the incarnation we have now. The problem (other than the otherworldly talent around Stephen Curry) with those teams was defense -- nobody could protect the rim. What made these Warriors truly special was not their ability to pass or shoot, but rather their defensive ability. We've seen Mike D'Antoni and Paul Westphal create prolific offenses throughout their coaching careers, but none reached the heights seen by a Warriors team that could protect the rim for 48 minutes a night.

Gone are Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli, replaced by David West and Zaza Pachulia. The latter duo are both seasoned NBA veterans who play respectable position defense, drawing charges and staying in the face of their counterparts, but rim protectors they are not.

Boston Celtics

What Brad Stevens has done in Boston has been remarkable, leading the team to 48 wins last season without a true "star" player. We haven't seen this kind of team-focused success since the Pistons of the Chauncey Billups era.

Players league-wide have noticed. After Kevin Durant spurned Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder and the rest of the New England region's attempt at luring the free agent, the Celtics settled on their consolation prize -- Al freakin Horford.

The kind of post player you can develop an offense from, Horford can score with his back to the basket, pop out to midrange, and, as one of the better passers over 6'10" in the league, he is quite capable of hitting the cut man a la Tim Duncan in the high post.

Horford transforms this team from "competitive feel-good story" to "contender to be feared," and quickly.

San Antonio Spurs

Tim Duncan is gone, and with him, the opinion of the Spurs as an elite contender. San Antonio has tried, admirably, to replace the Big Fundamental, bringing in Pau Gasol and Dewayne Dedmon to replace the surefire Hall of Famer's minutes.

Longtime fans of Pau knew of his rim-protecting capabilities even as he saw the duties diminish in his time with the Lakers, but the Spaniard has seen a resurgence in this area following two seasons in Chicago. His true value to the Spurs system comes on the offensive side, as the sort of post player that can run the high post sets head coach Gregg Popovich loves so much.

Dedmon comes by way of the Orlando Magic as a straightfoward player - raw, athletic, and tough. Though his minutes were limited with Orlando -- perhaps a red flag, given their need for rim protection with Nikola Vucevic on the roster -- Dedmon averaged 13 points, 11.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per 36 minutes. Paired with a 1.3 DBPM, he's proven capable of providing valuable minutes of toughness off the bench.

Los Angeles Clippers

Every year, Chris Paul gets a little bit older, and the Clippers' championship window gets a little tighter. The roster remains largely untouched at it's core, but you can believe the players will notice the absence of the criminally underrated Cole Aldrich, who departed in free agency.

Raymond Felton, Brandon Bass and Marreese Speights have been brought in to bolster a second unit that featured the departed Aldrich, Josh Smith, and Lance Stephenson. Will it be enough to finally get them over the hump?

Stay tuned to the Blake Griffin trade rumors as well. Should he be moved, their outlook could swing drastically in either direction.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Kevin Durant may be gone, but these Thunder are a far way from forgotten. The trade of Serge Ibaka to the Orlando Magic for Victor Oladipo, Domantas Sabonis and Ersan Ilyasova looks great for Oklahoma City in hindsight as they scramble to replace their star player.

The other man tasked with making a city forget about the Durantula? A man by the name of Russell Westbrook.

Westbrook looks like a man possessed when he's the only star on the floor -- which will be the case all season long. With a chip on his shoulder, an athlete like Oladipo to play off of, and Steven Adams protecting the paint, this Thunder team is in much better shape than most realize.

Toronto Raptors

This offseason was tough on the Raptors, who find themselves closer to championship contender status than ever before. Though the Bismack Biyombo hype train didn't gain full steam until the playoffs, astute observers saw his impact throughout the season. Averaging 8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game in just 22 minutes, the Congolese big man turned a corner in his development and capitalized on his market value to the tune of four years, $68 million, leaving the Raptors with a void in their front court rotation.

The signing of Jared Sullinger should help, but he won't fully replace the production Biyombo brought. Whether or not the Raptors take another step forward will depend largely on their development from within. Center Jonas Valanciunas has been making believers out of us all year-to-year, but DeMar Derozan -- who received a maximum contract extension -- will need to improve in every facet of the game to prove he belongs in the discussion as one of the best shooting guards in the game.

***

Wade Williams is a contributor from Orlando, Florida, covering wide-ranging topics from ethics, finance, primitive survival techniques, combat sports, Major League Soccer, the National Basketball Association, morality and anarchy. You can follow him on Twitter at @ThenWadeTweets.