NBA dark-horse contenders? Raptors, Warriors among teams that could make unexpected run

My mind starts to think about the contenders. Not just the Knicks , Spurs , and Thunders of the world, but the dark-horse contenders — the teams who believe they can make that leap. And whether it was last year's 60-win Pistons , the 64-win Cavaliers from two years ago, or the 51-win Grizzlies from 2022-23, someone always emerges.

And that's the beauty of basketball, it's not black and white, it's full of gray. No matter what it feels like, there truly is no one way to win. So here is my dice roll on some teams — whether they are already good and are being slept on, or that I think could get better throughout the season — that maybe, just maybe, just maybe could make a deep run in the playoffs.

It's not a gigantic surprise that a team featuring Kawhi Leonard may not only have championship aspirations but a route to get it done. He's quite literally done this in Toronto once before, and I'm not sure people get how much better the Raptors got over the course of last season. There's a reason they took Cleveland to seven games in the first round.