ESPN's "Top 10 Young NBA Cores" article has the Magic ranked as ninth. Ninth!?!

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Insider Ranking young cores: Bucks project to be class of NBA 3h - NBA ATLANTA HAWKS +9 more EmailComment

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the young Bucks will have a new look and heightened expectations this season. AP Photo/Aaron Gash Bradford Doolittle, ESPN Staff Writer Beginning with last month's draft and culminating with the summer leagues, the focus has been on the NBA's youngest players since the Golden State Warriors finished off the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals several weeks ago.

It's part of the annual cycle in the league and it makes for a nice balance. One team's fans get to celebrate, while those who root for the handful of other top contenders plot to overthrow the newly crowned champions. The rest are left to hope for the future, and this is the time of the year to dream of all these young pieces growing into something special.

EDITOR'S PICKS

Doolittle: Ranking offseason PG signings Bradford Doolittle writes that Mo Williams -- not Deron Williams or Rajon Rondo -- was the best point guard acquisition this offseason.

Doolittle: Plugging holes in free agency Players like Dorell Wright and Matt Bonner might not start, but they could still become important free-agent pickups for the right team. Today we're ranking the top young cores across the league using projected three-year WARP. The error bars on these kinds of forecasts are large by nature. For one thing, young players are inherently more difficult to project than veterans. And once you get beyond the coming season, the picture changes in ways that even the best projection model can't foresee.

But we do the best we can with the data available, and try to anticipate aging curves using factors like age, experience, athletic indicators and draft slot. Nevertheless, if a player has a low statistical baseline from whence to grow a projection, it's tough to predict All-Star production.

In the end, the system is a little biased toward players with at least some positive NBA production already under their belts. Still, this is a great way to glimpse the teams strictly through the prism of the young talent that they have accumulated. That's defined here as any player likely to be on the roster who won't yet be 26 by the end of the 2015-16 regular season. For some teams, including our top-ranked club, the good news just keeps getting better. For others, well, you can always just disagree.

THE TOP TEN

  1. Milwaukee Bucks (Projected three-year WARP: 92.5) Key young players: John Henson, Greg Monroe, Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Michael Carter-Williams, Jabari Parker

The Bucks cemented this spot when they signed free-agent Monroe this summer. Monroe doesn't turn 26 until June of next season, yet he likely will be the oldest member of a Milwaukee starting lineup that will grow together over the next few years. Middleton has already established himself as one of the top 10 shooting guards in the league, and if we were re-selecting the 2013 draft, Antetokounmpo might be the first player taken (though it would probably be Utah's Rudy Gobert). And these numbers are almost certainly underselling Parker, whose rookie numbers don't give him a great baseline from which to project.

  1. New Orleans Pelicans (90.6) Key young players: Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday

The Pellies aren't really that young of a team, with only two players likely to be on the roster who fit the criteria for these ratings. But one of them is a doozy: By the method used here to generate three-year forecasts, Davis not only tops all young players, he tops all players period, regardless of service time.

Rudy Gobert's three-year forecast ranks third among under-26 players. Nathaniel Butler/NBAE/Getty Images 3. Utah Jazz (90.0) Key young players: Rudy Gobert, Derrick Favors, Trey Burke, Rodney Hood, Alec Burks, Dante Exum, Trey Lyles

Gobert's amazing second season buoys a young Utah core that is brimming with both talent and depth. Gobert's three-year forecast ranks third among under-26 players. If Exum makes a second-year leap, it's quite possible the Jazz will top these rankings if we revisit them during the season.

  1. Boston Celtics (82.7)

Key young players: Jared Sullinger, Kelly Olynyk, R.J. Hunter, Marcus Smart, Jae Crowder, Terry Rozier

Everybody is waiting on the Celtics to acquire or develop their next superstar, but in the meantime Danny Ainge has put together one of the deepest rosters of young talent in the league. The talent pool in Boston was made even deeper this summer with the additions of Rozier, Hunter and Jordan Mickey through the draft, and the recent acquisition of Perry Jones III via the trade market. Is there a star here? Can the crafty Ainge parlay this group into his next big three? At least he has given the Celtics plenty to work with.

  1. Philadelphia 76ers (73.6)

Key young players: Robert Covington, Nerlens Noel, Richaun Holmes, Isaiah Canaan, Tony Wroten, Jahlil Okafor

Sadly, we're leaving Joel Embiid out of the rankings. It would be difficult to generate a projection for him at this point given the likelihood of another missed season. We also aren't including premier draft-and-stash talent Dario Saric. So if you want to mentally tack on a few WARP for these omissions, then perhaps you can see Sam Hinkie's rebuilding plan as being even further down the road than it appears here.

  1. Portland Trail Blazers (73.2) Key young players: Damian Lillard, Al-Farouq Aminu, Meyers Leonard, Noah Vonleh, Maurice Harkless, C.J. McCollum

The Blazers did a pretty nifty job of redirecting their priorities in the wake of LaMarcus Aldridge's departure, not to mention the exits of Nicolas Batum, Wesley Matthews and Robin Lopez. Lillard gives Portland a young star to lead a rapid rebuild, and the offseason acquisitions of Aminu, Vonleh and Harkless have helped bolster the young depth. Vonleh could turn out to be better than Aldridge someday, while McCollum, Leonard and Allen Crabbe should all benefit from expanded responsibilities.

  1. Charlotte Hornets (73.2)

Key young players: Kemba Walker, Frank Kaminsky, Jeremy Lamb, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Troy Daniels, Cody Zeller

The metrics like Kaminsky, who enters his rookie year ranking 24th among the under-26 set in three-year WARP. Walker makes the ratings by just missing the cut-off age. His three-year WARP forecast is 21.1, so he skews the numbers a bit. Still, there is room for growth in Charlotte, as Zeller and Kidd-Gilchrist both have a way to go before they hit the ceilings we thought they had when they were drafted.

  1. Toronto Raptors (71.2) Key young players: Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright, Bismack Biyombo, Cory Joseph, Terrence Ross, Bruno Caboclo

The metrics love Delon Wright, though in reality he'll be in direct competition with Joseph for court time. Still, the signing of Biyombo was one of the unsung terrific moves of the summer. He joins Caboclo as young guys who won't even necessarily be asked to play big roles in the short term, but have a bunch of potential to be big producers down the road.

  1. Orlando Magic (70.1) Key young players: Nikola Vucevic, Tobias Harris, Elfrid Payton, Victor Oladipo, Aaron Gordon, Mario Hezonja, Evan Fournier

Orlando's talent is well stocked at every position, which gives new coach Scott Skiles a lot of options when it comes to forging his key units going forward. We know he'll have a defensive group as one of his preferred lineups, and the Magic have the versatility and athleticism to make a major leap on that end this season.

  1. Detroit Pistons (58.7) Key young players: Andre Drummond, Stanley Johnson, Spencer Dinwiddie, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Darrun Hilliard II, Reggie Bullock

This is almost all Drummond, who ranks second behind Davis in the under-26 forecasts. If Drummond doesn't hit those superstar benchmarks the system thinks he'll get, Detroit will be in trouble. But Stan Van Gundy has reshaped the Pistons' roster to make Drummond the unchallenged centerpiece. The release of Josh Smith and the loss of Monroe in free agency puts a lot of pressure on Drummond, as Detroit got nothing in return for either player. By the way, since you're wondering, Reggie Jackson missed the cut-off age by just a few days. His three-year forecast is 11.9, which would move the Pistons up a spot or two.

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