These are merely the best incumbent quintets we can find, taking into account each player's style, age and expected on-court effectiveness five years into the future.

This applies most heavily to the Los Angeles Lakers , who don't have access to James, Paul George or any other primary targets in the coming offseasons. Those studs could obviously help boost the Lake Show, but again, the scope here rests upon incumbent talent and burgeoning cohesion.

In order to keep the focus on player growth and chemistry within existing rosters, we're not factoring in contributors currently outside the NBA. Nor are we allowing for any specific free-agency movement, since the point here isn't to bolster a lineup simply because it might have a shot at signing LeBron James.

But five years isn't that long. Plenty of established studs and current up-and-comers will still be playing at rather high levels, and those are the men with whom we're concerned for this particular article.

Heading into the NBA 's 2022-23 campaign, we'll probably be excited to watch a few players who aren't even on the radar yet. Maybe they're still working their way through high school, navigating their varsity basketball contests and prom invitations. Perhaps they're currently buried on a collegiate bench, waiting to break free and shoot up draft boards.

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Cameron Browne/Getty Images Dallas Mavericks Combining Dennis Smith Jr., Harrison Barnes and Nerlens Noel certainly makes for an intriguing start. But the Dallas Mavericks have too many question marks for us to assume they'll boast a top-five unit in the post-Dirk Nowitzki era. That is, if the German 7-footer isn't still playing five years into the future, of course. Noel's skill set might seem intriguing, but there's a reason he didn't land a big contract this summer and instead wound up working on a qualifying offer. His offense just isn't developed enough, and he has yet to demonstrate he can become a star-caliber player in a league with such modern stylings. Plus, who fills the two remaining positions? Seth Curry and a cane-aided version of Wesley Matthews? Dorian Finney-Smith? Having one uncertain spot is fine. Two, especially without an established star, is too much to overcome. Denver Nuggets Just having Nikola Jokic, who asserted himself as a top-20 player during his sophomore season, is hugely beneficial. Ditto for Gary Harris and Jamal Murray, though it's still unknown whether the Kentucky product will show off the facilitating chops necessary to fill in at the 1. But that's only three players. Juan Hernangomez could continue improving and become a convincing option at one of the forward spots. Will Barton could stick around and start spending more time at small forward. But a 37-year-old version of Paul Millsap isn't boosting the Mile High City into contention for a featured spot, and the other reasonable options at power forward are wholly unproven. Golden State Warriors Regardless of whether Patrick McCaw or Jordan Bell becomes a part of the Golden State Warriors' starting five in years to come, the rest of this dynastic force will be far removed from their prime years. They're talented enough to continue making some noise if they all stick together, but just look at the ages of the four core pieces five seasons into the future:

Stephen Curry: 34 years old at the start of 2022-23

Klay Thompson: 32 years old

Kevin Durant: 34 years old

Draymond Green: 32 years old

Betting on a quartet with that much mileage on the collective tires is a terrifying proposition, even if their games should age relatively well.

Phoenix Suns

Maybe Devin Booker will morph into a full-fledged superstar, though it's worth noting his current level of play doesn't come close to matching his reputation. But who else are you counting on for the Phoenix Suns?

Right now, the most promising starting five this far into the future seems like it'll be comprised of Tyler Ulis, Booker, Josh Jackson, Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss. One or more of those players will probably be replaced by future draft picks, but we have no clue who those will be.

Assuming Phoenix jumps into the top five gives far too much credit to a collection of players who haven't achieved much—or, in some cases, anything—at the professional level.

Washington Wizards

John Wall (32), Bradley Beal (29) and Otto Porter Jr. (29) will still be playing solid basketball a half-decade from now, but two primary concerns keep them from rising into the featured portion of this countdown.

Who are we supposed to count on in the frontcourt? The incumbent pieces are too old or mediocre to make much noise, and the Wizards are too competitive to find a top-notch replacement through the draft. That's problematic, especially since we aren't counting on free-agency acquisitions for any squad (and the Wizards don't have the cap space to make big plays, anyway).

Secondly, this team, as currently constructed, is wholly reliant on Wall. Maybe that changes going forward, but if the status quo sticks, point guards don't typically play at All-NBA levels when they're two years removed from their 30th birthdays.