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FiveThirtyEight Projection: 10. Dallas Mavericks

B/R Projected Starting Five: Delon Wright, Tim Hardaway, Luka Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis, Dwight Powell

I'm as surprised as you that the Mavericks rose this high in FiveThirtyEight's projection model. But all five of the players listed here are forecast for at least three wins above replacement. Doncic is projected for 9.2, which puts him at No. 19 leaguewide.

For the most part, the fit between all five is fairly seamless. Some may want to push Porzingis to the 5, which makes plenty of sense, but Powell moves well enough to guard playmaking 4s outside.

FiveThirtyEight Projection: 9. Oklahoma City Thunder

B/R Projected Starting Five: Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Andre Roberson, Danilo Gallinari, Steven Adams

Another surprise ranking from FiveThirtyEight, though it maybe shouldn't be. The system doesn't account for the possibility of a midseason fire sale. And if that doesn't happen, OKC might just be good.

CP3 finished first in the NBA in real plus/minus as recently as 2017-18. SGA appears to have star potential. Gallo was 11th in offensive real plus/minus last season. And Adams seems poised for an explosion in rebounding numbers now that he's no longer the primary box-out man for Russell Westbrook.

The question in the starting five, of course, is Roberson. After missing all of last season, he's been day-to-day throughout the preseason. If he's ready to go for opening night, his defense feels like an ideal fit in a lineup that should have plenty of scoring from Paul, Gilgeous-Alexander and Gallinari.

FiveThirtyEight Projection: 8. Los Angeles Lakers

B/R Projected Starting Five: LeBron James, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Danny Green, Anthony Davis, JaVale McGee

There's been some talk about finally designating LeBron as the actual point guard. Given the makeup of the roster, the Lakers may have to do just that, especially if AD continues to insist on being a power forward.

Between those two, Kyle Kuzma and Jared Dudley, L.A. has four rotation players who should log the bulk of their minutes at the 4. LeBron is the one who makes the most sense elsewhere.

With him in place at the 1 and AD at the 4, everything else just sort of falls into place. Green's an almost perfect complement to those two. KCP can be, as well. Between those two, the Lakers have one of the league's best 3-and-D wing combinations.

That just leaves the question of who plays center. At this point in their careers, McGee is the much more dangerous roll threat and is probably easier to trust defending the perimeter too.

FiveThirtyEight Projection: 7. Golden State Warriors

B/R Projected Starting Five: Stephen Curry, D'Angelo Russell, Jordan Poole, Draymond Green, Kevon Looney

After being the league's foregone conclusion for each of the last three seasons, the Warriors enter 2019-20 without Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson. And while that obviously makes them worse, it also rockets them up the intrigue leaderboard.

How will Curry and Russell coexist? Can Draymond be playoff Draymond for a full season? Who starts at the 3 and 5? And perhaps most intriguing, what are the chances of a return for 2015-16 Curry?

If Golden State gets those versions of Curry and Draymond, the rest of the starting five may not matter all that much. Those two alone would keep the Warriors in the picture of legitimate contenders.

FiveThirtyEight Projection: 6. Utah Jazz

B/R Projected Starting Five: Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell, Bojan Bogdanovic, Royce O'Neale, Rudy Gobert

There are a few ways Utah could go with the forward positions. Joe Ingles and Bogdanovic provide the most shooting. Jeff Green with either of them is strong on offense and might put a little more pressure on the rim.

O'Neale, theoretically, provides the shooting (38.6 percent from deep last season) and is probably the best defender of the bunch. Plus, he's a low-usage player, which leaves plenty of scoring opportunities for Conley, Mitchell, Bogdanovic and Gobert.

And Ingles as the backup playmaker is a role Utah has found success with in the past.