A reliable bench can be of vital importance to an NBA team. Not only are those players needed to give the starters a rest, but they can also be called upon to play more minutes if a starter goes down with an injury. Here are the top five projected team benches in the NBA this season.

1. Cleveland Cavaliers

Key reserves - Derrick Rose, Jae Crowder, J. R. Smith, Kyle Korver, Channing Frye.

While this bench is a strong one, Rose will likely be starting until Isaiah Thomas comes back from his hip injury. It isn't clear how much time Thomas will miss. Also, this is assuming that Dwyane Wade becomes the team's starting shooting guard over J.

R. Smith. Cleveland's bench has a bunch of players who can knock down the three-ball other than Rose. Iman Shumpert will also likely be a regular part of the Cavaliers rotation as long as Thomas is out.

2. Golden State Warriors

Key reserves - Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, Javale McGee, Nick Young, Patrick McCaw.

The only piece Golden State lost off their championship bench of last season is Ian Clark, who left for the Pelicans. Their already excellent bench gained Nick Young, Omri Casspi, and second-round pick Jordan Bell. All Iguodala has done coming off the bench for the Warriors was win a Finals MVP in 2015 and finish second in Sixth Man of the Year voting last season. Livingston is the rare guard on the Warriors who isn't a knockdown three-point shooter, but he has shot 54.1% from the field over the last two seasons.

The bench is also deep as David West, Casspi, and Kevin Looney can each provide solid minutes when called upon.

3. San Antonio Spurs

Key reserves - Patty Mills, Rudy Gay, Manu Ginobili, Dejounte Murray, Joffrey Lauvergne.

Either Murray or Mills will be the starting point guard to begin the season until Tony Parker comes back from injury (he believes he will return in November).

Ginobili is still going strong at 40 years old and had his best three-point percentage last season since 2011-12. Gay missed much of last season with a torn Achilles but will be of excellent value to San Antonio if his health allows him to look anything close to the career 18.4 point per game scorer he has been in his 11 seasons.

4. Houston Rockets

Key reserves - Eric Gordon, P. J. Tucker, Luc Mbah a Moute, Nene Hilario, Tarik Black.

The Rockets have reigning Sixth Man of the Year Eric Gordon leading the way off the bench. Tucker, Mbah a Moute, and Black all signed as free agents in the offseason, while Nene re-signed with the team. Tucker and Mbah a Moute will provide stellar wing defense on a team that often focuses on scoring. Nene was an excellent, efficient scorer with Houston last season especially in the playoffs, while Black was a superb rebounder when on the court with the Lakers.

5. Denver Nuggets

Key reserves - Will Barton, Mason Plumlee, Kenneth Faried, Juan Hernangomez, Emmanuel Mudiay.

Faried stated recently that he knows he is a starter and may want to move on if that's not the case.

He won't as long as Paul Millsap and Nikola Jokic are on the team. So for now, he and Mason Plumlee can both score down low and rebound better than most frontcourt reserves. Barton has been one of the better bench scorers the past two seasons and if the former lottery pick Mudiay struggles much like he has his first two seasons, Denver has veteran Jameer Nelson to be more than just a serviceable backup point guard.

Honorable mentions:

Charlotte Hornets (Michael Carter-Williams, Malik Monk, Jeremy Lamb, Frank Kaminsky, Cody Zeller), Los Angeles Clippers (Milos Tedosic, Lou Williams, Sam Dekker, Montrezl Harrell, Willie Reed), Miami Heat (Tyler Johnson, Kelly Olynyk, Josh Richardson, Rodney McGruder, Wayne Ellington), and Sacramento Kings (De'Aaron Fox, Zach Randolph, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Justin Jackson, Vince Carter).

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