Human existence is absurd and void of deeper meaning. Still, every day billions of people get up and go about their lives because the alternative is unthinkable. You would never praise them for their resilience. It’s just the way our species works.

In the wake of the Warriors’ title, the NBA faces a similar dilemma. When Golden State signed Kevin Durant, they freakishly raised the bar on the level of talent required to contend. Coming off of the Warriors’ facile title run, it’s become clear that very good is no longer good enough. Unless a team has a cheat code like LeBron James or Gregg Popovich on hand, the only way to get there is by stockpiling All-Stars. So far, this frenzied, unpredictable offseason has seen the rich get richer and the East get decimated as playoff teams scrambled to keep up. There’s desperation in the air. But to what end?

With Chris Paul, Paul George, Jimmy Butler, and Gordon Hayward all changing teams, you’d expect the league’s competitive balance to have entered into a state of dramatic flux. Instead, all this activity has thrown it into stark relief. The Warriors don’t just sport four Hall of Famers in their prime. Steve Kerr is a mastermind of a coach. The supporting cast is state-of-the-art and continues to improve. The front office is canny enough to have largely built this team from the ground up. And the ownership is fully committed to keeping this would-be dynasty intact. It’s a perfect storm that no team could reasonably hope to replicate.

How Does Chris Paul Fit in with the Houston Rockets? Perhaps it's time to stop underestimating Mike D'Antoni's vision.

But resignation just isn’t an option in sports. The confidence of elite NBA players stops just shy of foolhardy. It’s been built up by years of being the best player on the court; when that stops being the case, they still need to believe it in order to survive at the highest level. While most players would acknowledge that Golden State poses a major challenge, they can’t even entertain the notion that they are completely, totally fucked (which they probably are). Admitting this would be a dramatic reversal of everything they know about themselves and the world.

That’s why, of all the big moves of the past week, none resonated quite like the Paul George trade. Sam Presti just handed Russell Westbrook—an athlete who has never once entertained the notion that victory was out of reach—maybe the closest thing possible to another Kevin Durant. George can score in bunches but doesn’t constantly need the ball in his hands; he can make plays without spearheading the offense; and his defensive prowess can set an opponent’s teeth on edge. The ideal weapon to pair with Westbrook, PG also has a swagger to his game that puts him on the same page as the thermonuclear guard. The Thunder still can’t touch the Warriors. But we’d love to watch this team trying to convince us otherwise. That’s the only way to spare ourselves from fatalism.

It’s also why we’re waiting with bated breath to see just how Mike D’Antoni will make sense of a James Harden/Chris Paul backcourt. This experiment could blow up in his face or make for an even stronger Houston team than last season. But no one’s seriously predicting that the Rockets have a shot at a title—even if Paul’s opt-in for a year suggests that he feels otherwise. They’re a large-scale curiosity that could result in plenty of amazing, devious basketball. And maybe that’s enough in the present-day NBA. Short of abandoning the sport, which isn’t a realistic option, we’re going to need to find new ways to watch. Sure, every night has a winner and a loser. When it comes to year-long storylines, though, we may have to learn to embrace aesthetics as a viable alternative to title dreams. (The same is true to a lesser degree in Minnesota. No matter what else happens in the league, it will be damn fun to watch Karl-Anthony Towns and Jimmy Butler play together.)

Cynics will ceaselessly remind you that professional sports leagues aren’t just high-level competition. They’re also a multi-billion-dollar business premised on entertaining fans. That’s certainly the way most NBA owners think. For them, success isn’t necessarily measured in terms of titles. It comes down to putting quality product on the floor that will sell tickets. Granted, hometown fans have a rooting interest that makes engaged from the jump. But they’ve got another advantage working for them: While every sport has details and moments that can be enjoyed independent of the final outcome, the NBA has actively encouraged people to consume the game on an increasingly modular level. We saw this in the league’s embrace of Vine and its ongoing efforts to promote the styles and personalities of player who aren’t heading to the Finals anytime soon.