Which state can field the best starting 5?

New Jersey already plays second fiddle to New York in Americans’ minds, and now they have a team filled with second options. Who leads this squad? Jalen Brunson, Jaren Jackson Jr., Bam Adebayo, and Karl-Anthony Towns are all bona fide second options on their teams. They are used to playing alongside a ball-dominating guard. Is Sharife Cooper adept enough to run this team? Who takes the last shot? Does anybody want to root for Jersey? The Garden State might be known as home to the greatest television show of all time, The Sopranos, but they are second tier in this competition.

The Florida dudes are filled with high-upside young guys and the grizzled vet, Udonis Haslem. Unfortunately, this team has no major offensive force, so Scottie Barnes and Anfernee Simons will have to share the load. Barnes is the best option to run the offense through, as he showed his offensive repertoire right out the gate last season, on his way to earning Rookie-of-the-Year honors. The backcourt of Tre Mann and Grayson Allen is a huge defensive liability (though Allen could always break an opponent’s knee if it comes to that) while Haslem offers little beyond harsh motivation at the center position. This team would need perfect shooting nights from Allen, Mann, and Simons to compete with some of the more stacked rosters. Overall, this is one of the weakest teams, if not the weakest.

The Windy City has always been one of America’s hotbeds of hoops. The Illinois roster boasts feisty defenders orbiting the superstar talent of Anthony Davis. However, Davis will have to return to his 2020 Bubble Championship form for this team to have a shot at winning it all, as Tristan Thompson provides little in terms of consistent offense. The key might be on the bench, as Ayo Dosunmu is a high-upside guard who plays both sides of the court and has sneaky athleticism at 6-foot-4. He’s the X factor for an Illinois team short on athleticism, shooting, and spacing. A small ball line-up featuring Dosunmu subbing in for Patrick Beverley would turn this team into one of the more potent run-and-gun rosters, aiding in their hunt for our fantasy tournament.

Who knew Missouri had so many ballers born there? Bradley Beal alone would have been enough to vault them into a top tier, but adding Jayson Tatum and Michael Porter Jr. gives them one of the better trios of any state team. The Show Me State lives up to its name by providing a lineup with three-level scoring, athleticism, and perimeter defense. Unfortunately, the team lacks a true big man and a natural point guard. We already know what it looks like when Alec Burks has to operate the point, as he did unsuccessfully on the Knicks last season. So this team will have to learn to share the ball between three guys who are more than used to dominating in isolation. Their likelihood of winning it all is slim, but Missouri might be the most entertaining to watch.

The Georgia team has a nice balance of veteran leadership and young players on the verge of superstardom. Anthony Edwards is the best offensive player, while Jaylen Brown holds down the role of the second-best player, as he does for the Celtics. The frontcourt of Jae Crowder and Dwight Howard provides tough-as-nails defense and playoff-tested mettle to defend some of the more potent competition. This team’s ability to come out on top depends on Edwards and Brown meshing as the team’s one-two punch, while Collin Sexton would be needed as a reliable shooter at the point, as he is a career 38-percent shooter from three. The most important factors for this squad is the perimeter trio getting hot from the perimeter and Howard turning back the hands of time at center. Other teams have more talent, but this team might have the most untapped potential because of Edwards and Brown.

The most athletic team of the bunch boasts the combined aerial dynamics of Zach LaVine and Dejounte Murray. All five guys can handle the ball, facilitate, and play above-average defense. The heart of the offense is Murray, who damn near averaged a triple-double last season. With Murray on-ball, LaVine and Thybulle can run the wings while locking down the other team’s best perimeter players. Thybulle is the best defensive perimeter player in the league and would be a matchup nightmare for opposing players. Add Murray to the team’s big three, and that’s one hell of a tough out.

There was a time in past eras when New York would have been the odds favorite year after year. Michael Jordan was born in Brooklyn, for crying out loud. But truth be told, NBA stars aren’t made in NYC as often as they used to be. The centerpiece here is Donovan Mitchell, who Knicks fans have long wanted on their team. Mitchell would lead an athletic offense of Terence Mann, Obi Toppin, and Tobias Harris, three dunk-loving dudes with size and strength. Of course, the odds of the New York team coming out on top depends on who steps up to be the number two guy. The easy money is on Harris, who holds the highest ppg of the starting five. But this could, and should, be Carmelo Anthony’s show. Playing back in front of New York fans would reenergize Melo off the bench. If Prime Melo shows up to play, New York could be the dark horse contender.

The Texas team boasts the best defense of any other state-based team. I mean, Jimmy Butler, Marcus Smart, and Myles Turner on the same squad? That’s some serious clamps. Trey Young provides the shooting and facilitation, while Randle gives them a 20, 10, and 5 option up front. Butler finally slides into a role as the second-best player behind Young, giving Texas a shot at winning it all. The Lone Star State team might not score the most points, but they will have the most intense, brutal defense, filled with a couple of Southern Dawgs leading the charge. If a game goes down to the wire, expect Young to have the ball in his hands for a chance to live up to his “Ice trey” nickname in the clutch.

The undisputed best homegrown team, the California squad is stacked at every position. It could have easily been a 12-man roster of starter-level players for Cali-born dudes, but these are the six best. You have clutch shooting with Klay Thompson and Damian Lillard, MVP-level scoring from Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, and Paul George as your swiss-army knife small-ball center, dishing, defending, and scoring. LaMelo Ball can come in off the bench and up the transition game to an unfair level. This team is packed with so much scoring, passing, and clutch play it’s almost unfair. Hands down, this is the best state team, and it’s not even close.

Every league has to have an underdog worth rooting for. If California is the elitist group of household names, then Ohio is the group of underdogs. Sure, hard to call any team possessing LeBron James and Steph Curry underdogs, but look at the rest of the roster. This team is built like a 1970’s champion, a superstar duo, an above-average third option, and hustle players. Ohio has that. Luke Kennard gives them some shooting, and Larry Nance Jr. proved with the Pelicans he’s ready to do the dirty work, but this team wins or loses behind two top 10 talents of all time — James and Curry. No other team boasts two better players than these two, and James and beaten superteams before when his Cavs faced the Warriors in 2016, but it would take another Herculean effort, at age 37, to win the title for Ohio.

A Chris Paul-Zion Williamson pick and roll is box office. Add in Brandon Ingram at the three, Reggie Bullock and Seth Curry shooting from three, and PJ Tucker as a small-ball five, and you have a top-tier team stacked with talent, defense, and veteran leadership. Paul could finally win a championship, and Williamson would be surrounded by a boatload of talent that fits his strengths and weaknesses. Paul has played for some talented teams throughout his career. This lineup would be the best he’s ever had. And that’s saying a lot. Williamson and Ingram are teammates with the Pelicans but lack a point guard of Paul’s talents. Pair these three with the perimeter shooting of the rest of the squad, and you have a championship-level team that can match the talent levels of California and Ohio squads.