The Core: Jalen Williams (23), Chet Holmgren (22), Cason Wallace (21), Ousmane Dieng (21), Nikola Topič (19)

It was brutal to decide between the lower ages and higher numbers of the Rockets’ core and the slightly more advanced, comparably thinner group of the Oklahoma City Thunder. For that matter, it’s fair for critics to argue that the OKC pieces listed here haven’t even been as responsible for producing team success as the ones in Orlando.

The Magic were good last year mainly because of what Banchero, Wagner and Suggs accomplished. The Thunder got major contributions from Williams and Holmgren, but they didn’t lead the way themselves. MVP runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a major hand in those 57 wins.

If we toggled the sliders a little to include 25-year-olds, OKC could add Lu Dort and Isaiah Joe to the mix. And it’s not like SGA is ancient either, with his 26th birthday just having passed in July.

This ranking comes down to faith in Williams and Holmgren establishing themselves as All-Stars this season. The former was one of just three players to average at least 19.0 points, 4.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds while hitting over 42.0 percent of his threes last season, and the latter is a floor-stretching big with an off-the-dribble game who also averaged 2.3 blocks per game.

I’m still convinced Williams and Holmgren can both be better in their primes than Banchero in Orlando and Şengün in Houston.

And it’s not hard to imagine either of them being viewed as no-questions-asked cornerstones if they were on any other team right now. It’s not their fault they happen to play with an in-prime superstar in SGA.

Wallace is more than an afterthought. He was in the rotation for the West’s top seed last year as a rookie, hitting 41.9 percent of his threes and defending at an elite level. OKC could trade him for two first-rounders tomorrow if it wanted to. Dieng’s future is uncertain, but it seems unwise to doubt the Thunder’s draft wisdom. Just 21, he could still develop into a two-way combo forward if he ever gets the opportunity on a squad this stacked.

It’s agonizingly close, but Williams, Holmgren and Wallace headline an OKC core that has enjoyed more present success and possesses greater future upside than any other.

Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@gt_hughes), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale.