10 of 10

Kathy Willens/Associated Press

Record: 16-14

Offensive Rating: 105.3 (No. 13)

Defensive Rating: 103.4 (No. 10)

Net Rating: 1.9 (No. 9)

Come back in a few months, and it'll likely seem laughable that the Washington Wizards are even in this conversation. They have to be by virtue of their record, but that's only for the time being. They're the most obvious "legit" team among these 10.

Lest we forget, John Wall remains the Wizards' best player. Bradley Beal might have the best chance at an All-Star nod (due both to health and playing at the 2, which remains the far weaker backcourt position), while Otto Porter Jr. has frequently looked like the most impactful contributor. They'll likely fall back into the shadow of the speedy point guard when he's playing at full tilt.

He's getting there now, though he's already missed 11 games this early into the 2017-18 proceedings.

Should Wall regain his All-Star form, the Wizards will keep ascending the Eastern Conference standings. Even without playing his best basketball, he's teamed up with the other two aforementioned players to post an 11.44 net rating when all share the floor, per PBPStats.com.

Throw in drastic improvement from Tomas Satoransky, who received far more touches when Wall was out of the lineup. Factor in the strides made by Mike Scott and Kelly Oubre Jr. Think about the inevitable improvement from Markieff Morris, who can't have declined this much, this quickly.

The Wizards are going to be just fine. And even if the record might not reflect as much, they're playing like a top-10 squad according to the underlying metrics.

Verdict: Legit

Adam Fromal covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @fromal09.

Unless otherwise indicated, all stats from Basketball Reference, NBA.com, NBA Math or ESPN.com and are current heading into games on December 18.