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30. New York Knicks

Starting Five: Elfrid Payton, RJ Barrett, Kevin Knox, Julius Randle, Taj Gibson

Due to injuries, transactions and a host of lineup promotions and demotions, this quintet has only played five minutes over three games this season, so we can't really analyze how good they've been collectively. But individually, none of these players are playing well.

Barrett and Knox are still adjusting to the league, Gibson is on the wrong side of 30 and playing like it, Randle is a good scorer but a terrible defender, and Payton is on pace to be one of the worst scorers in the league if he qualifies for the leaderboard. Seriously, how does a guard shoot 48.8 percent from the free-throw line?

When former Knicks president of basketball operations Steve Mills and GM Scott Perry signed four power forwards last summer, fans raised concerns that the team's spacing would be subpar. Lineups like this one have proven that fear correct, as none of these five shoot above 33 percent from three.

On the bright side for those long-suffering fans, playing this group more often might finally get them the first overall pick they've long coveted.

29. Detroit Pistons

Starting Five: Reggie Jackson, Bruce Brown, Tony Snell, Sekou Doumbouya, Christian Wood

Earlier this year, it looked like the Pistons might have a chance to shoot up the Eastern Conference standings. Through the first month of the season, they had a top-ten offensive rating, and Blake Griffin, fresh off a third-team All-NBA campaign, had not even played yet.

It's safe to say the season has devolved from there, given Griffin's subsequent knee surgery and Andre Drummond's trade to the Cavaliers.

There are still slivers of hope for this Pistons team. Doumbouya, previously thought to be a developmental project, has looked ahead of schedule, with eight games of 10-plus points and two double-doubles this year. Wood, after years in the G League, has thrived as Drummond's backup this year and is primed to excel as a starter. In addition, Bruce Brown is developing into a well-rounded role player, averaging 11.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.7 steals per 36 minutes.

The casual fan might look at this team now, especially after trading Drummond, and see the worst team in the NBA. But there are reasons to pay attention to the Pistons both for the remainder of this year and going forward.

28. Cleveland Cavaliers

Starting Five: Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Cedi Osman, Kevin Love, Andre Drummond

This is a strange situation, to be certain. With Garland and Sexton, the Cavaliers have a starting backcourt straight from that famous Spiderman meme, which is fine if you want retweets, but it isn't the best way to build a basketball team.

However, Cleveland doubled down on its confusing roster construction, trading Brandon Knight and John Henson for Drummond.

Good on Cleveland for not giving up much to acquire Drummond, as his expiring contract and out-of-date skill set made him a low-value trade asset. However, he now seemingly takes over a starting spot from Tristan Thompson, who was having a career year up until this point and is apparently going to stay with the Cavaliers, despite wanting out as recently as this week.

Cleveland's bench frontcourt now includes Thompson and Larry Nance Jr., two big men who could absolutely help contenders but are instead wasting away on a 13-39 team.

Despite boasting four former lottery picks and seven All-Star appearances, this Cavaliers starting five is going to be an ugly watch for the rest of the season. Cleveland fans should start looking at James Wiseman clips sooner rather than later.

27. Washington Wizards

Starting Five: Ish Smith, Bradley Beal, Isaac Bonga, Rui Hachimura, Ian Mahinmi

Beal is working hard to boost the Wizards up this high, almost as hard as he works to make them a competitive basketball team on a nightly basis. He's playing nearly 36 minutes a game, tied for eighth-most in the league, yet refuses to wear down, putting up 29.2 points, 6.3 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game.

Boasting the ninth-best offensive rating in the NBA, Washington actually has a staggering nine players scoring over 10 points per game, but most of them are bench-oriented. Latvian sniper Davis Bertans is a serious Sixth Man of the Year candidate, Mo Wagner has become a productive backup big in his sophomore campaign, and the likes of Jordan McRae and Troy Brown Jr. infuse some additional life from the backcourt—but none of them count toward the Wizards' ranking here.

Beal's compadres in the starting lineup have been fine. Smith has had a great year by his standards but a mediocre one by starting point guard expectations, Hachimura has continued to score well in the NBA, and the fact that Mahinmi has re-emerged as more just than a salary figure on a spreadsheet has been quite a shock to the system.

But they would undoubtedly be last here if Beal hadn't taken it upon himself to ball out of his mind every night.

26. Golden State Warriors

Starting Five: Andrew Wiggins, Damion Lee, Eric Paschall, Draymond Green, Marquese Chriss

A D'Angelo Russell-for-Andrew Wiggins swap was speculated about for months, but it was always considered a long shot. What, like the self-proclaimed Light Years Ahead Warriors were going to acquire Wiggins, a ball-dominant, mid-range-loving underachiever? Yeah, right.

The remaining 30 games on the Warriors' schedule will be an excellent test case to see Wiggins' potential fit with the team. He didn't seem to respond to the antics of Jimmy Butler during Butler's brief stint in Minnesota, so how will he react to Green's similarly intense leadership? If Steve Kerr gets fed up and decides to bench Wiggins after a stretch of poor effort, will the swingman retreat or come back more motivated than ever?

One look at this starting lineup—no disrespect to Paschall or Lee, both of whom have overachieved this year—tells us that Wiggins will almost certainly be in charge of the offense the rest of the way. In this low-stakes environment for the next two months, hopefully the Warriors staff will help wean the Kansas product off his offensive vices before Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson return and the pressure ramps up once again.