I was bored, so I compiled data from the Ringer’s Top 100 list. This methodology is, of course, flawed in that I did not rank groups unless each member was listed on the Ringer’s Top 100 list. For example, I believe anyone would rather have Luka, Kyrie, Lively, and PJ Washington than Houston’s quartet, but my criteria prevented me from ranking Dallas’s top four players here. Regardless, the results are listed below.

Numbers next to rankings indicate the average ranking on the Ringer’s Top 100. Brandon Ingram was not included for the Pelicans because he is so clearly not in their plans for this season. CJ McCollum was also not included for NOP because I expect him to come off the bench. Retrospectively, I regret doing this, but too late.

Top duos (BKN and DET only had 1 top 100 player each):

1. BOS (Tatum & Brown) – 10
2. DEN (Jokic & Murray) – 10.5
3. LAL (LeBron & AD) – 11
4. PHX (Durant & Booker) – 11
5. DAL (Luka & Kyrie) – 13.5
6. PHI (Embiid & PG) – 14.5
7. MIL (Giannis & Dame) – 15
8. MIN (Ant & Gobert) – 21

T9. MIA (Jimmy & Bam) – 21.5

T9. NYK (Brunson & KAT) – 21.5

11. OKC (SGA & JDub) – 22

12. SAC (Fox & Sabonis) – 24

13. IND (Hali & Siakam) – 25.5

14. LAC (Kawhi & Harden) – 26.5

15. GSW (Steph & Dray) – 30

16. CLE (Mitchell & Allen) – 32

17. NOP (Zion & Murray) – 36

18. MEM (Ja & JJJ) – 38

19. ORL (Paolo & Franz) – 43.5

20. SAS (Wemby & Vassell) – 45.5

21. HOU (Sengun & FVV) – 52.5

22. ATL (Trae & Jalen Johnson) – 54

23. UTA (Lauri & Sexton) – 62

24. TOR (Scottie & Quickley) – 66.5

25. CHI (Coby & Lavine) – 70.5

26. POR (Grant & Simmons) – 73

27. CHA (Lamelo & MIller) – 77

28. WAS (Kuzma & Brogdon) – 87

Top trios:

1. BOS (Tatum, Brown, & White) – 19
2. PHI (Embiid, PG, & Maxey) – 20
3. DEN (Jokic, Murray, & Gordon) – 25.7

T4. MIL (Giannis, Dame, & Middleton) – 29

T4. MIN (Ant, Gobert, & Randle) – 29

T4 OKC (SGA, JDub, & Chet) – 29

7. PHX (Durant, Booker, & Beal) – 30.7

8. NYK (Brunson, KAT, & Mikal) – 31

9. SAC (Fox, Sabonis, & Derozan) – 32.3

10. LAL (AD, Lebron, & Reaves) – 32.7

11. CLE (Mitchell, Allen, & Mobley) – 38.7

T12. MEM (Ja, JJJ, & Bane) – 41

T12. MIA (Jimmy, Bam, & Herro) – 41

14. DAL (Luka, Kyrie, & Lively) – 41.3

15. IND (Hali, Siakam, & Turner) – 42.7

16. NOP (Zion, Murray, and Herb) – 46.3

17. LAC (Kawhi, Harden, & Norm) – 46.7

18. GSW (Steph, Dray, & Kuminga) – 47

19. ORL (Paolo, Franz, & Suggs) – 53.3

20. HOU (Sengun, FVV, & Green) – 58

Top Quartets

1. BOS (Tatum, Brown, White, & Jrue) – 23.75
2. DEN (Jokic, Murray, Gordon, & MPJ) – 35.75
3. NYK (Brunson, KAT, Mikal, & OG) – 37
4. MIL (Giannis, Dame, Middleton, & Brooke) – 62
5. OKC (SGA, JDub, Chet, & Caruso) – 37.75
6. MIN (Ant, Gobert, Randle, & McDaniels) – 38
7. CLE (Mitchell, Allen, Mobley, & Garland) – 42.5
8. MEM (Ja, JJJ, Bane, & Smart) – 52.25
9. NOP (Zion, Dejounte, Herb, and Murphy) – 56 plus BI (35) and CJ McCollum (68)!
10. ORL (Paolo, Franz, Suggs, & KCP) – 60.5
11. HOU (Sengun, FVV, Green, & Brooks) – 64.25

Top Quintets

1. BOS (Tatum, Brown, White, Jrue, & Porzingis) – 27.4 plus Al Horford (100)!
2. NYK (Brunson, KAT, Mikal, OG, & Hart) – 47.2
3. OKC (SGA, JDub, Chet, Caruso, & Hartenstein) – 48
4. MIN (Ant, Gobert, Randle, McDaniels, & Conley) – 48.6 plus Naz Reid (79)!
5. HOU (Sengun, FVV, Green, Brooks, & Jabari) – 71

My biggest takeaways are that Boston is by far the best team in the league, but there is a huge “second tier” of squads that can convince themselves they have a chance if the Celtics stumble. Also, Houston is incredibly deep for a likely play-in squad. October 22 can’t come soon enough.