Strength in numbers was supposed to be a cutesy catchphrase denoting the team-oriented approach of the Golden State Warriors.

It’s become a colossal understatement upon the arrival of superstar Kevin Durant. As far as the other 29 NBA teams go, it’s also something of a misnomer.

The league is now tilting toward the Warriors like a seesaw with Shaquille O’Neal seated on one end and an infant on the other.

The Eastern Conference has largely remained the same, with the Cleveland Cavaliers being pursued by a handful of challengers: the Boston Celtics, Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors.


The West is Golden State and 14 teams that can lock in their Caribbean vacations for next June.

Blame the imbalance on a collective bargaining agreement that was supposed to put the Oklahoma City Thunders of the league on par with the big-market spenders but instead has created another super team with all its ugly trappings.

Who really has a chance against a Warriors starting lineup featuring three players who combined to average 80.4 points per game last season?

The number everyone will obsess about next season is 73. That was the Warriors’ record-setting victory tally, which it will be expected to top after Durant, the summer’s most coveted free agent, joined sharpshooters Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.


Golden State’s practices could be more entertaining than its games. Andre Iguodala may be able to occasionally stop Durant, unlike most of the Warriors’ rivals.

There always will be Warriors worriers, of course. Injuries happen, and there also will be the question of whose team is it, no matter how deferential Durant might have been during an introductory news conference when it’s easy to say all the right things.

While everyone waits for the start of a season whose conclusion seems inevitable, here’s a look at the free agency winners and losers not named the Warriors:

LeBron James celebrates the Cavaliers’ NBA title. (Phil Masturzo / Akron Beacon Journal / TNS )


The biggest winners:

Cleveland: Doubt LeBron James at your own peril. If he has to play all 48 minutes in each Finals game while switching defensively from Durant to Thompson to Curry, he’ll do it.

Plus, if the Cavaliers somehow beat the Warriors again, it will qualify as even more meaningful than the championship they just won.

Clippers: Inertia can be a beautiful thing. The Clippers didn’t change much outside of losing forward Jeff Green and switching backup big men, which doesn’t sound like a step forward.


But the elimination of the Thunder as contenders in the West removed one huge roadblock to that long-awaited breakthrough to the conference finals. Maybe the Clippers can finally get there by essentially remaining the same.

Memphis: Chandler Parsons will do more than win lookalike contests involving Grizzlies part owner Justin Timberlake. He’ll fortify a starting lineup that rivals almost any in the league.

Those who panned Mike Conley’s record five-year, $153-million contract don’t realize that’s simply the cost of doing business in this mad new NBA world, especially when it means retaining the league’s most underappreciated point guard.

Other winners: Boston (Al Horford was a nice consolation prize in the Durant sweepstakes); Indiana (Jeff Teague provides upgrade at point guard); Utah (quietly positioned itself to make the playoffs); Detroit (locked up Andre Drummond through 2021); Toronto (DeMar DeRozan remained loyal); Washington (the backcourt is still intact); New York (Bull-ish on Joakim Noah, Derrick Rose); Minnesota (gap-toothed Cole Aldrich could be a great fit in hockey country); Portland (retained its young and improving core); Chicago (Dwyane Wade’s homecoming will be happy unless Rajon Rondo sabotages it).


See the most-read stories in Sports this hour >>

Timofey Mozgov, now a member of the Lakers, enjoys the moment after Cleveland clinched the NBA championship. (Ronald Martinez / Getty Images )

The biggest losers:

Cleveland: No, you are not seeing double. The Cavaliers were losers as well as winners because they’ll now have to account for Durant in that presumed Finals rematch against the Warriors.


Oklahoma City: Does Russell Westbrook stay, or does the Thunder’s lone remaining All-Star go? The team would be smart to trade him before a litany of 40-point, 40-shot performances lead nowhere besides the fringes of the playoffs and give Westbrook the right to depart in free agency without any return.

Lakers: Just when you thought the team’s Time Warner Cable ratings couldn’t get any lower, it presents … Timofey Mozgov! The four-year, $64-million contract Mozgov signed feels like as much of a bargain as that 25-year, $5-billion TV deal the Lakers landed that’s generating record low viewership.

Luol Deng was a good get, but he’s not going to elevate the Lakers into the playoffs thanks to another mishmash of veterans and underdeveloped players. Luke Walton could wonder what he’s gotten into by the middle of November.

Other losers: San Antonio (Tim Duncan’s retirement is crushing); Atlanta (Dwight Howard brings the circus home); Houston (defensively challenged Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson fit in perfectly); Dallas (no big names want Mark Cuban’s money); Charlotte (Al Jefferson is out, Roy Hibbert is in); Orlando (apparently trying to acquire every big man in the NBA); New Orleans (no moves of consequence); Brooklyn (Linsanity, the Sequel seems unlikely); Sacramento (Arron Afflalo was the big splash); Milwaukee (can Jason Kidd suit up?); Philadelphia (draft pick Ben Simmons doesn’t count); Phoenix (Leandro Barbosa would have been good circa 2009); Denver (still has cap room to offer a max contract!); Miami (wait, Wade is leaving?).


ben.bolch@latimes.com

Twitter: @latbbolch

MORE FROM SPORTS

Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy approach Olympic golf debate from opposite sides


Lynx players won’t wear Black Lives Matters shirts Tuesday following police officers’ walkout

Dodgers Dugout: Who is the only Dodgers hitter to get an ‘A’ in the mid-season report card?