Ranking the top 25 centers for the 2019-20 NBA season

Availability is the most important ability, and we can only guess when Jusuf Nurkic will be ready to play for the Portland Trail Blazers following the horrific leg injury he suffered last March. As  Joe Freeman of The Oregonian wrote, Portland doesn’t expect the 25-year-old who was near the conclusion of his best regular season to date when he went down to return until at least February. Realistically, fans shouldn’t expect to see the same Nurkic before the fall of 2020. 

Multiple injury issues  limited Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson to 43 games last season. His value moving forward will be what he fetches the Cavs in a trade, if anything, and what he means to a team during the 2020 playoffs. He averaged 14.1 PPG and 13.2 REB  per 36 minutes in 2018-19, career highs for the one-time champion, and he’ll need to repeat that production and remain healthy to assist in Cleveland’s rebuild past what will be another dreadful season. 

We were anticipating Willie Cauley-Stein receiving a fresh start with the Golden State Warriors, where the 26-year-old should thrive playing with Stephen Curry, D'Angelo Russell and Draymond Green in transition even more than he did with the Sacramento Kings. Unfortunately, an injured left foot will keep Cauley-Stein a spectator for  at least one month . With Kevon Looney also nursing a setback, we’re not sure who will start at center for the Warriors on opening night. 

Those within the Brooklyn Nets can spin the club signing DeAndre Jordan  however they wish. Jordan is in the Big Apple  because Kevin Durant wants him there along with Kyrie Irving, which is good business for the Nets but leaves questions about Jarrett Allen’s future over the next two seasons. After all, KD won’t be ready to play meaningful basketball until October 2020. By then Jordan, who is no longer an All-Defensive force, will be 32 years old. 

The New York Knicks were the league’s worst team in 2018-19, so you’re forgiven if you missed much, if not all, of Mitchell Robinson’s rookie season. New York’s young center earned 19 starts, shot 69.4 percent from the field (highest among  rookies who played in at least 60 games), was sixth among first-year players in REB (6.4) and finished second overall in the Association in BLK  (2.4). Playing with Julius Randle, RJ Barrett and Marcus Morris should make life easier for him on the offensive end of the court. 

The tale of Jonas Valanciunas reminds us the NBA can be a cruel business. Valanciunas fit right in with the Memphis Grizzlies after the Toronto Raptors traded him away, as the 27-year-old became his new employer’s second-leading  scorer  (19.9 PPG) behind only Mike Conley, who was traded to the Utah Jazz this past offseason as part of the club’s rebuild. Meanwhile, Toronto added Marc Gasol, became the league’s best postseason defensive team and won the championship.   Valanciunas will eat once more playing with Jaren Jackson Jr. and rookie Ja Morant. He and Memphis  probably just won’t win a lot this season. 

DeAndre Jordan could be a great mentor for a young big like Jarrett Allen. Competing with Jordan for minutes is not what Allen needs at this point in his career. In 80 appearances last season, the 21-year-old averaged 15 PPG, 11.5 REB and 2.1 BLK per 36 minutes. Those numbers are his argument for starting. Tom Dowd of the team’s official website explains how Allen added weight and strength to handle facing bigger and more physical opposing centers. 

Escaping the intimidating shadow of Rudy Gobert and joining the uptempo New Orleans Pelicans should suit Derrick Favors nicely. The 28-year-old could reach a new level and average a double-double  for the first time  in a lineup that features rookie Zion Williamson, Jrue Holiday, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball. It’s specifically on defense, though, where he and Williamson can shine as a top rim-protecting pairing. Best of all, Favors returns to his preferred position of center with New Orleans. 

Julius Randle turned the best offensive season of his pro career into a nice payday  from the New York Knicks, and the 24-year-old should lead the club in scoring this coming season. Make no mistake about the reality that Randle was a consolation prize after the Knicks missed out on Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and Zion Williamson. New York would love if Randle’s 34.4 three-point shooting in 2018-19, the best of his career, remained true — he entered the campaign shooting under 26 percent from beyond the arc as a pro. He also finished the season second to last among centers with at least 60 appearances in  ESPN’s defensive real plus-minus. 

When the Miami Heat sent Hassan Whiteside to the Portland Trail Blazers, in part to acquire Jimmy Butler, the club guaranteed 22-year-old center Bam Adebayo a spot in the starting lineup, where Adebayo  spent 28 games during his second pro season. Despite seeing his playing time go from 19.8 MIN as a rookie to 23.3, Adebayo fell short of a breakout season, averaging 8.9 PPG and 7.3 REB while flashing elite athleticism on defense. As Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported, those within the club view Adebayo as a better long-term fit than Whiteside, largely because of what they believe he can become as a perimeter defender. Brad Botkin of CBS Sports suggests Miami could include the big man in a trade for a star such as Bradley Beal. 

Jokes  about Russell Westbrook allegedly stealing rebounds from Oklahoma City Thunder teammates  aside , OKC center Steven Adams should finally average a double-double now that Russ is with the Houston Rockets. The big question hovering over Adams’ status is where he will be playing by the end of February. The 26-year-old who  matched his career-high of 13.9 PPG and averaged a personal-best 9.5 REB is signed through 2021 , and several teams in need of a solid but not spectacular big could reach out to the Thunder, especially if the club can unload Chris Paul to any buyer after the middle of December. 

The Milwaukee Bucks won’t have any problem with 7-foot center Brook Lopez once again  firing off  over 500 three-point attempts in 2019-20 if he continues to consistently drain 36.5 percent of those shots. “Splash Mountain,” as he’s affectionately known, remaining a perimeter threat changes defensive schemes and creates openings for Giannis Antetokounmpo to attack the paint and rim with reckless abandon.  From The Ringer’s Zach Kram: “Lopez helped Milwaukee allow both the fewest shot attempts at the rim and the lowest accuracy on those attempts, as the Bucks leapt from no. 18 in defensive rating to no. 1 overall.” 

The 6-foot-8 Los Angeles Clippers center Montrezl Harrell  started  in five of 82 games last season, and he will again feature on the team’s second unit following L.A.’s acquisitions of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.  The Ringer’s D.J. Foster recently wrote why Harrell could again feast in that role during a contract season. Harrell averaged 16.6 PPG, 6.5 REB and 2.0 AST, all career bests, in 2018-19, and he’s capable of replacing George when the MVP candidate needs a break. Harrell can also play the 5 in smaller lineups. Mirjam Swanson of The Orange County Register reports that Harrell worked on “shooting the ball from all aspects of the floor, mid-range, all the way out to the three-point line” during summer training sessions. Harrell went 3-of-17 from distance last season. 

“I want to face them,” Houston Rockets center Clint Capela said of the Golden State Warriors after Houston got by the Utah Jazz in the playoffs, per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. As Feigen, Nathan Beighle of Blue Man Hoop and Colin Connors of The Dream Shake all explained, Golden State made Capela eat those words. Capela's net rating  was the worst among Houston starters for that series. Maybe he’ll get lucky and won’t have to see Draymond Green and Golden State during the 2020 postseason. 

Only Luka Doncic and Trae Young enjoyed better rookie seasons than Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton in 2018-19. As a 20-year-old, Ayton led all  first-year pros in REB (10.3), he finished fourth in scoring at 16.3 PPG, and he was second (58.5) to only Mitchell Robinson (69.4) in field goal percentage among rookies who appeared in at least 60 contests. As Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic wrote in early October, the Suns now expect Ayton to be more consistent on a nightly basis and more psychologically mature and mentally prepared for a grueling campaign. 

In October 2018, the Indiana Pacers awarded center Myles Turner with a  contract extension, and the 23-year-old went on to lead the NBA in blocks per game (2.7) and bolster his three-point shooting to a career-high  38.8 percent (76-196). Turner may compete for All-Defensive honors, but that will mean little to the Pacers if playing him in the same lineup as Domantas Sabonis doesn’t result in wins before Victor Oladipo returns from injury. This past June,  ESPN’s Zach Lowe reported that “the league at large is skeptical about the staying power of the Sabonis/Turner duo.” Don’t just assume Sabonis is whom Indiana would jettison. 

The Toronto Raptors trading for Marc Gasol ahead of February’s deadline changed NBA history. While Kawhi Leonard deservedly won NBA Finals MVP, Gasol was almost equally important to Toronto’s defense vs. the Philadelphia 76ers and Golden State Warriors. The 34-year-old begins the season on an expiring contract, and Toronto would do well to trade him during the winter if the Raptors aren’t legitimately in the championship hunt following the holidays. 

It’s easy to forget Nikola Vucevic began the 2018-19 campaign on trade radars after the Orlando Magic spent a first-round pick on Mo Bamba. Vucevic responded by enjoying a breakout campaign and  hitting career highs in scoring (20.8 PPG), REB (12.0), AST (3.8) and three-point shooting (36.4 percent on 84-231 shooting). He also finished sixth among centers in ESPN’s  defensive real plus-minus and behind only Nikola Jokic in  RPM wins. 

Detroit Pistons big man Andre Drummond made history last  March when he became the first player to compile 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 100 steals and 100 rejections in four different seasons. The 26-year-old also enters the upcoming campaign atop the career leaderboard for total rebound percentage. None of that changes that he’s a minus on offense and that Detroit can’t win anything of note with him on its current roster. Earlier this year, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press reported that the Pistons had made Drummond available “for the right price over the last few years.” 

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich can play multiple lineups vs. different opponents, and that includes shifting LaMarcus Aldridge to feature alongside Jakob Poeltl. At 34 years old, Aldridge undeniably has a lot a step, but he still  averaged 22.2 PPG and 8.9 REB for playoff teams the past two seasons. The veteran enters the 2019-20 campaign needing to prove he can help lead the Spurs past the conference’s top-tier teams, as San Antonio can move on from him in June. 

Al Horford won’t play center for the Philadelphia 76ers when he’s on the court alongside Joel Embiid, but the 33-year-old veteran is listed at the position heading into the campaign. The Sixers didn’t sign Horford to get buckets during the regular season. Philadelphia acquired him and his defensive prowess to  face the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo in the postseason and also to provide cover for Embiid when he’s off the floor and/or when Embiid is sidelined. As Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire  wrote in August, the Sixers also want Horford to be a mentor for Embiid, Ben Simmons and others in the locker room. 

We can’t blame Karl-Anthony Towns for the Minnesota Timberwolves not surrounding him with adequate talent. It’s not Towns’ fault the club has a serious Andrew Wiggins  problem. KAT is a double-double machine who averaged career highs in scoring (24.4 PPG), REB (12.4) and AST (3.4) last season, and a team with solid defenders spread throughout the lineup may be better with Towns instead of Nikola Jokic. Towns has yet to become an above-average, let alone elite, defender. The ESPN stats suggest he was one of the worst defensive starting centers in the NBA last year. 

In the final four games of the playoff series between the Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz, Houston held Utah center Rudy Gobert to 8.5 PPG, which again led to questions about how much the 27-year-old can adapt in an evolving league. The two-time reigning Defensive Player of the Year who finished the campaign atop ESPN’s defensive real plus-minus  received some assistance from the club in the offseason when Utah landed Mike Conley and Bojan Bogdanovic to ease Donovan Mitchell’s offensive burdens.  Ryan McDonald of Deseret News describes how Utah’s new scheme should make Gobert even more of a formidable pick-and-roll threat. 

No center registered higher in ESPN’s real plus-minus for 2018-19 than Nikola Jokic, the best passing big man to ever play for an NBA team. Jokic crossed the 20-10 threshold for the first time last season, but his three-point shooting dipped from 39.6 percent the prior year (111-280) to 30.7 percent (83-270). As Eric Spyropoulos of NBA.com wrote in August, Jokic is hardly a stabilizing figure in rim protection, and Gage Bridgford of Hoops Habit confirmed opposing players shot 59.6 percent vs. Jokic within 6 feet. The 24-year-old can win MVP without turning the figurative corner on defense. Can the Nuggets win a title next spring in that case? 

In the backs of our minds, health will always be a concern regarding Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid. The 25-year-old averaged career highs in scoring (27.5 PPG), REB (13.6), AST (3.7), field-goal percentage (48.4) and MIN (33.7), and he finished fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting. As ESPN’s Brian Windhorst explained, an illness and knee tendinitis affected Embiid following the All-Star Game, and he wasn’t physically at his best during the postseason series vs. the Toronto Raptors. Embiid could win DPOY and MVP the same season. He’s that special. Philadelphia needs him to be that special in May and June to get where the club wants to be ASAP.