Ranking The NBA's Best Fifth Starters For Next Season: Is VJ Edgecombe Already No. 1?

A starting five gets scary when the fifth-best player is still somebody you actually have to worry about. It is easy to build around one or two stars, but when the last guy in the lineup can score 15 points, defend at an elite level, or give you a double-double, suddenly there isn't really one player the other team can attack. That is what I'm looking at here. This isn't the fifth-leading scorer or the least famous name, it is the player I see as the fifth-best overall starter on each team, based on last season, his role, defense, shooting, and what the other four players around him already do. Some of these guys would probably be the third-best starter on another roster, which is exactly why they made this top 10. The 76ers are the perfect example, because VJ Edgecombe just averaged 16.0 points as a rookie and is still clearly behind Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown, LeBron James, and Joel Embiid. The Knicks have a championship starter at No. 5, the Thunder have an All-Defensive guard, and the Rockets have a former No. 3 pick who isn't even 24 yet. So yeah, these starting fives are pretty loaded. 10. Wendell Carter Jr., Magic There isn't anything exciting or crazy about Wendell Carter Jr.'s game anymore, but that isn't really a bad thing for the Magic. They already have Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner handling most of the offense, Desmond Bane gives them another scorer and shooter, while Jalen Suggs brings defense and playmaking, so Carter doesn't need to suddenly turn into a star. He started all 78 games he played last season and averaged 11.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.0 assists, shooting 51.2% from the field. Orlando's expected starting five remains Suggs, Bane, Wagner, Banchero, and Carter, and that same group already showed some good results together last season with a first-round appearance, as they were just a second-half away on Game 6 against Detroit from making the second round. There is also Nikola Vucevic behind him now, but I still find it obvious that Carter will start, because this lineup needs defense more than another old scorer. He is 27, strong enough to deal with the best centers, and doesn't need the ball to be productive, which makes him a very easy fifth starter to fit next to four players with bigger roles. Carter is last here because his ceiling feels lower than everybody above him, but getting almost 12 points and seven rebounds from your fifth guy isn't exactly a problem. 9. Jonathan Kuminga, Timberwolves This is probably the biggest wild card in the ranking, because nobody really knows what Jonathan Kuminga is going to look like in Minnesota. The Timberwolves just signed him after a pretty long offseason saga, and he now joins LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, and Rudy Gobert in the expected starting five. Last year was messy between the Warriors and Hawks, with Kuminga appearing in only 36 games and averaging 12.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 23.1 minutes, while shooting 46.3% from the field and 33.3% from three. Those aren't bad numbers by themselves, but I still find a lot of questions about his defensive focus, motor, and ability to buy into a secondary role in a contender. There's a reason the Hawks decided against paying him $24.3 million for another year. The nice part is that he doesn't have to prove he can be a star anymore, and maybe he can leave that baggage out the door in Minnesota. Ball and Edwards can control the offense, McDaniels can take the hardest wing matchup, and Gobert protects the rim, so Kuminga can focus on running, cutting, attacking the basket, and using his athleticism. I still like his upside more than Carter's, which is why he gets No. 9, but the gap isn't big until Kuminga shows he can play winning basketball every night. 8. Tim Hardaway Jr., Heat The Heat basically need Tim Hardaway Jr. to do one thing, and thankfully, he is still really good at it. With Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo inside, Andrew Wiggins on the wing, and Davion Mitchell handling more of the guard work, Hardaway's job is pretty simple: get open and shoot threes every time you get the ball. He is coming off one of his best shooting seasons ever, making a career-high 40.7% from three while averaging 13.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 80 games with the Nuggets. He also finished third in Sixth Man of the Year voting before joining the Heat, so this isn't some random veteran being pushed into a starting job. Still, he is 34 and clearly the fifth-best player in a lineup with Giannis, Bam, Wiggins, and Mitchell. The Heat aren't going to ask him to defend the opponent's best guard or create offense off the dribble, and that actually makes his role much easier than it was earlier in his career. Mitchell could've been the fifth-best player here, but with a 9.3-point-and-6.5-assist 2025-26 season, he deserves more consideration. Hardaway now starts in Miami after a very successful individual run in Denver, and even if he's past his prime years athletically, the one skill Miami needs from him remains one of the most elite weapons. 7. Aaron Nesmith, Pacers Aaron Nesmith isn't the kind of player who gets a lot of attention, but I would trust him more than Hardaway in a playoff series because he can help on both ends. The Pacers don't need him doing anything crazy next to Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Pascal Siakam, and Ivica Zubac; they mainly need his defense, movement, and shooting. Even in an injury-hit season, Nesmith averaged 13.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.9 assists while making 37.9% from three. He played only 45 games, so availability is the main reason I don't have him even higher, but his career 38.3% mark from deep is enough to trust the shooting again. The Pacers are also bringing back four starters who already know how to play together, with Zubac replacing the old center spot that Myles Turner had left wide open. That starting group of Haliburton, Nembhard, Nesmith, Siakam, and Zubac is very good, and Nesmith can stay in the same simple role that has worked for him since reaching Indiana. He's never going to be the reason a defense panics, but he also isn't somebody teams can ignore, as we've seen plenty of his shooting heroics in the Pacers' Finals run in 2025. For a fifth starter, that ability is one of the keys to why the Pacers can be a dark horse. 6. Onyeka Okongwu, Hawks This is where the numbers start getting kind of ridiculous, because Onyeka Okongwu just averaged 15.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.1 blocks, and I still think he is only the fifth-best player in the Hawks' starting five. Jalen Johnson is clearly the main guy, Nickeil Alexander-Walker just had a huge scoring season as the reigning MIP, Dyson Daniels brings elite defense, and CJ McCollum still remains their playoff main scorer and ball-handler. That leaves Okongwu at No. 5, even after a year where he also shot 37.6% from three on 5.2 attempts per game. That jumper changes a lot for him, because early in his career he was much easier to guard away from the rim. Now he can space the floor a little, make simple passes, rebound, and still give Atlanta more than two combined steals-blocks per game, which is a lot from a center who doesn't demand a huge amount of touches. The same Hawks starting five had a +21.4 net rating across 822 possessions last season, so there really isn't much reason to change it. If Okongwu is your fifth guy, you have a very good starting five, simple as that, and the reason why they were the 6th seed. 5. Donovan Clingan, Trail Blazers Only five players make it above Donovan Clingan because I already think he is way better than the normal fifth starter. He is 7-foot-2, only 22 years old, and just averaged 12.1 points, 11.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.7 blocks while starting all 77 games he played. The crazy part is he did all of that in only 27.2 minutes per game. Clingan finished his second season with a 20.9 PER and 8.6 win shares, while also making 34.1% from three on 3.2 attempts, so there is already more to his offensive game than just dunks and offensive rebounds. I think the Trail Blazers should start Ja Morant, Damian Lillard, Toumani Camara, Deni Avdija, and Clingan, which gives the big man a very easy job offensively. He doesn't have to create; Morant and Lillard can do that, while Avdija can handle the ball a ton, so Clingan can spend most of his energy screening, rebounding, and protecting the rim. I could see him being too good for this list by next year, but for now, I still have Camara's 13.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 37.0% 3P line over him. But if Clingan gets to 14 or 15 points while staying around 11 rebounds and two blocks, calling him a fifth starter won't really make sense anymore. 4. Cason Wallace, Thunder Cason Wallace averaged only 8.6 points last season, and I still have him fourth, because scoring isn't the reason he is this high. The Thunder have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, and Isaiah Hartenstein, so they don't need another guy chasing 15 shots every night. What Wallace gave them instead was 1.9 steals per game in only 26.6 minutes, All-Defensive Second Team honors, and a seventh-place finish in Defensive Player of the Year voting at just 22 years old. He also started 58 games, so this isn't some bench defender we're guessing can handle a bigger role. With Luguentz Dort gone, Wallace is expected to move right into that open starting spot next to SGA and Jalen Williams on the perimeter. That means the Thunder can put him on the best guard every night, let him create turnovers, then ask very little from him offensively besides making open shots (35.1% 3P) and moving the ball. Wallace is simply the perfect fifth starter for this team as the Dort replacement. He doesn't need star numbers because his defense already gives Oklahoma City something most teams can't find that easily in a 10th draft pick. 3. Jabari Smith Jr., Rockets As he went No. 3 overall in the 2022 Draft, Jabari Smith Jr. is still only 23, and now he might be the fifth-best player in the Rockets' starting lineup. That tells you how much talent the Rockets have for next season with Kevin Durant still carrying this squad. Last season, Smith averaged 15.8 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists while starting 77 games, shooting 45.0% from the field and 36.3% from three. He has now played four NBA seasons and is still younger than some players entering the league, so there is plenty of room for another step. Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Kevin Durant, Smith, and Alperen Sengun are expected to make up the starting five. VanVleet is the other obvious candidate for the "fifth-best starter" label in this rotation, but to be honest, it is very hard to judge a player coming off an ACL injury that saw him miss the whole year. But if healthy FVV is back, Smith should still be the fifth guy. His role can stay as simple as it has always been: defend, rebound, make open threes, and use that 6-foot-11 frame against smaller players. Smith Jr. averaged almost 16 points and seven rebounds without ever turning into that KD prototype, so that tells you a lot about how stacked Houston is. 2. Josh Hart, Knicks Josh Hart is the player who makes this whole idea funny, because calling him a fifth starter kind of sounds disrespectful after what the Knicks just did. He isn't better than Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, or Mikal Bridges, but he might be the best glue guy in the league. Hart's averages won't wow anybody with 12.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists last season, but he did shoot 50.8% from the field and a career-best 41.3% from three. Those are great numbers for somebody who barely touches the ball on offense, especially from a 6-foot-5 guard who somehow keeps grabbing rebounds around much taller players. The Knicks also already know this lineup works. Brunson, Hart, Bridges, Anunoby, and Towns posted a +13.9 net rating during the playoffs, then finished the run as NBA champions, and all five are back for another season together. What I like about Hart is that his stat line can change completely and he still helps. He might score eight points, grab 11 rebounds, and hand out seven assists one night, then hit four threes the next game, and he doesn't care much about a bigger role. That is a championship fifth starter, and he would be No. 1 almost any other year. 1. VJ Edgecombe, 76ers Putting a 20-year-old at No. 1 might seem aggressive, but look at what VJ Edgecombe already did before we even talk about the names around him. As a rookie, he averaged 16.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 1.4 steals in 75 games, playing 35.0 minutes per night. He also shot 43.8% from the field and 35.4% from three for a No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference, so this wasn't a rookie who only played because the team had nobody else. Edgecombe had a huge role already for a contender, started every game he played, and instantly showed he can score, rebound, pass, and defend at an NBA level. Now comes the crazier part: he is still clearly fifth in Philadelphia's starting five. Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown, LeBron James, and Joel Embiid are the other four starters, a group loaded with All-NBA selections, MVPs, championships, and way more NBA experience than Edgecombe has. That should make Year 2 easier for him, not harder. He won't need to have a huge burden, so he can run in transition, attack open lanes, defend guards, grab rebounds, and take the shots that come naturally instead of trying to carry the offense like every star sophomore gets asked to do. For example, what Cooper Flagg will do on a Mavs team that's still tanking for the future. Hart is more proven, Wallace is a better defender right now, and Smith has more size, but none of them gave their team 16.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.2 assists as a rookie- and, what's even more important, with an insane second-year projection. If that is the fifth-best starter on the 76ers, then yeah, VJ Edgecombe is already No. 1.