Ranking the Top 6 Best NBA Young Cores

The NBA is beginning to unveil the 2023-24 regular season schedule, signaling that basketball isn’t too far away.

Plenty of teams have rebuilt their rosters, hoping to become championship contenders shortly, but these six teams have the best young cores. 

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Do the Spurs have the deepest young core? No, but that doesn’t matter. The Spurs hold Victor Wembanyama, a prospect every team on this list would trade a ransom to acquire. The value of Wemby is already being seen, whether it’s the Summer League crowd he brought or the financial valuation the Spurs gained by having him on his roster. The Spurs have other young players like Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, and Malaki Branham, but Wemby is the one that will take the Spurs back to the promised land.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander isn’t young anymore, but entering his age-25 season in October, SGA deserves to be in the class of other young superstars such as Jayson Tatum and Luka Doncic. Looking at the rest of the Thunder, the story has been the number of picks they’ve been hoarding, and it finally appears to be paying off. Chet Holmgren will be in the running for this year’s Rookie of the Year honors after sitting out last season due to injury. OKC also has Josh Giddey and Jalen Williams primed to continue developing. More unknown commodities like Cason Wallace, Jaylin Williams, and Ousmane Dieng give OKC the deepest pool of talented young pieces.

The Grizzlies have already proven their ability to win games, but how they handle pressure remains to be seen. Ja Morant just turned 24, Jaren Jackson Jr. is 23, and the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Desmond Bane, is among the more underrated players in the league. Hopefully, Marcus Smart is the veteran glue that maximizes the potential of the young stars of this club.

The Magic have been irrelevant since Dwight Howard departed more than a decade ago, but this is the most hope the Magic organization has had since. Starting with Paolo Banchero. The reigning Rookie of the Year has superstar written all over him, with a team that should continue to be built around him. Franz Wagner took a leap last year as a scoring threat on the wing and will only continue to develop. Jalen Suggs and Cole Anthony have been disappointing in the backcourt, but 2023 lottery selections Anthony Black and Jett Howard will hopefully fill that void. Watch out for this team to take a leap in the East next year.

The Rockets could surpass the Magic, but given their approach in free agency, signing Dillon Brooks and Fred VanVleet, we should question whether or not their young guys will get enough opportunities to develop. Jalen Green is leading the rebuild, a lethal scorer who improved when receiving more on-ball responsibilities in the second half of last season. Jabari Smith Jr. has loads of potential, with rookies Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore flashing star potential. Alperen Sengun and Kevin Porter Jr. cannot be ignored, but seeing how Ime Udoka handles playing the young guys come the fall will be interesting.

The Pelicans could be second or third on this list, but Zion Williamson needs to actually play. He just turned 23 and is a superstar on the floor, but he’s never on the court. Surrounding him, Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones are key role players, with second-year guard Dyson Daniels expected to take a leap and rookie Jordan Hawkins primed to contribute with his perimeter shooting. Still, the fate of the Pelicans franchise comes down to Zion.

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