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This group features five potential playoff teams (and four near-locks) whose benches may be causes for real concern.

21. Detroit Pistons

There's plenty of talent between Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond, but Detroit's roster is largely question marks after that. And that, of course, includes the bench.

Derrick Rose is an interesting addition as a potential heat-check guy off the pine, but he finished 2018-19 at a woeful 3.3 percent from deep over his final 17 appearances. He hasn't had an above-average box plus/minus campaign since 2011-12.

Markieff Morris, Luke Kennard (if he doesn't start) or even Joe Johnson might provide a little hope for the second unit as well. But no one feels like anything close to a sure thing.

22. Philadelphia 76ers

Philadelphia's starting five has the potential to be the best in the NBA. But after Ben Simmons, Josh Richardson, Tobias Harris, Al Horford and Joel Embiid, things get dicey in a hurry.

If one of Trey Burke or Mike Scott pops, this outlook might be different. Both Matisse Thybulle and Zhaire Smith have plenty of potential. Staggering the starting bigs could allow Horford or Embiid to lead bench units.

Like Detroit, though, those potentialities are little more than that right now. The starters may have to post some massive plus-minus numbers.

23. Boston Celtics

The Celtics recovered nicely from the loss of Kyrie Irving by adding Kemba Walker in the (pre-)opening moments of free agency. But like Philadelphia, this team features a bench that could make things difficult on the starters.

Marcus Smart is a true basketball Swiss Army knife. But after that, Boston is relying on a lot of youngsters off the bench. Is Grant Williams ready for that kind of responsibility? Carsen Edwards?

Proper staggering, or perhaps reserving Enes Kanter for a sixth-man role, could mitigate this to an extent. But Celtics fans should feel a little uneasy about the second unit.

24. Toronto Raptors

It's tough to fault the Raptors for this position. There isn't much they could've done differently to hang onto superstar Kawhi Leonard. They won the title, for crying out loud.

But leave he did. And that pretty much sealed Danny Green's departure, too. Toronto was minus-2.5 points per 100 possessions (39th percentile) when it played without both those starting wings last season, according to Cleaning the Glass.

Norman Powell and OG Anunoby will be tasked with replacing them (good luck when Kawhi is 11th all-time in career box plus/minus, while Green is 82nd), which leaves even lesser names to fill their roles off the pine.

25. Golden State Warriors

Only so much can be learned from a preseason game, but Golden State's debut against the Lakers put a major weakness on display. Warriors not named Stephen Curry shot 38.5 percent from the field and generally had a hard time creating any offense independent of their superstar.

Things will certainly loosen up a bit once Klay Thompson returns, but expecting consistency from young players such as Alfonzo McKinnie, Jordan Poole and Jacob Evans could make it tough for Golden State to hang on until that happens.