Who's The Best Center In The NBA Besides Howard & Bynum?

[PlayTheGame]

Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum are clearly the #1 and #2 guys at the Center position right now in the NBA. I don't think many people would argue against that, as they're widely regarded as such. Howard's game is pretty much complete for a big man while Bynum is still developing, but I doubt he will ever ascend to Howard's level. But both are great and huge parts of their teams nonetheless. If Kobe were gone, Bynum would arguably be the Lakers most valuable player, and Howard is the Magic's most valuable player far and away. So while the #1 and #2 spots at Center are claimed, who would you give the #3 spot to? Who's the best Center in the NBA right now besides Howard & Bynum? For the sake of this debate, let's stick to the "true" Centers. For example, sometimes Pau Gasol & Kevin Love play Center on occasion, but their true position is PF.

Personally, I'd have to go with Marc Gasol, who seems to be having a breakout season. He's always shown promise and talent in Memphis, but this season he's been a true force, the heart of the team, and the main reason why they're at least in playoff contention. For a Center, Gasol has accumulated some pretty impressive numbers so far this season (15.4 PPG, 9.6 RPG, 3.1 APG, 1.9 BPG). I would say he's been his team's most valuable player this season and seems to only be improving. I've seen a few of his games this season, and he stands out much more than he ever did in the past, and his numbers are reflecting his improvement. He seems to be much more involved and much more of a factor in games, especially late in games. I'd personally say that he's the #3 best Center in the NBA right now.

Who would you say is the #3 best Center right now in the NBA?

 

[Peoples_Champ]

Howard and Bynum are beasts, but I give #3 to Al Horford. He's a strong on the boards, makes crazy blocks and his mid-range game is better than any other center (other than Bargnani, I guess).

It sucks that he's been injured, but as he gets back up to 100%, I think he'll challenge Bynum for the #2 spot.

 

[Harthan]

I'll go for a guy who doesn't get a whole lot of love, considering he plays the Utah Jazz. But Al Jefferson has had himself a nice year. Traditional stats don't point to great offense - 19.5 PPG which looks good until you realize it came on .493 FG%. So while his PPG is comparable to Howard or Bynum (better than Bynum actually) he really isn't shooting the ball very well (traditionally anyway). 9.4 rebounds per game is decent, he's gets more APG than Howard or Bynum. Steals and block rates also aren't, y'know, terribly impressive. It's the advanced stats that start to make him look pretty attractive. 23.1 PER (third best among centers) is the obvious one, and if you believe in Hollinger (and I do) that might be all the convincing you need. Going further though, well, you kind of see the same thing you do with the traditional stats - above average but not mind blowing stuff across the board, except for an interesting nugget in that he leads all centers with the lowest TO ratio - a mind blowing 5.4. It represents the percentage of possessions that result in a turnover. Compare to 13.9 and 13.4 for Howard and Bynum, which suggests he's one hell of a ball handler. Some more peripheral stats are pretty nice for Monroe. To me he kind of compares favorably to a younger Tim Duncan.

I don't know if I painted the best picture above, but PER is a damn good all encompassing stat and that's probably the most important piece. Jefferson's a fine center in a league lacking good ones.

 

[JamJam]

Kendrick Perkins. No just kidding. The choices above me are pretty good with Gasol and Jefferson. I don't think that Al Horford is a Center but a player that is forced to play that position because his team needs him to play that position. I was gonna go with Al Jefferson too, but I'll change it up a bit and go with Marcin Gortat.

His play has been magnificent and he can thank Steve Nash for that. You play with this guy in a pick-and-roll situation and he'll be doing great because of his ability to shoot the outside shot. He's currently average 16.2 PPG and 9.9 RPG which is basically a double double, exactly what you want in your 5-man. And just imagine that him and Dwight were once on the same team. His play has been very underrated when he was part of the Orlando Magic. But now that he's playing with a floor general like Steve Nash, he has really flourished. I truly believe he's in the top 5 centers right now. Right now it's Dwight, Bynum(for now), Marc Gasol, Jefferson, then probably this Gortat. The only other guy that can give him a run for that five spot is probably Roy Hibbert or Greg Monroe.

 

[Big Sexy]

Definitely Al Jefferson. He is one of the more underrated players in all of the NBA. He is probably the second best center offensively next to Andrew Bynum and he is no slouch on defense either. His rebounding number aren't anything amazing but that is in part because he plays in a very deep front court. Paul Millsap and Derrick Favors both rebound the ball very well and Jefferson is always on the court with one of the two. If I was building a team and had to pick a center (not counting Howard and Bynum) I'd go with Jefferson.

 

[Australia's Finest]

Well if he wasn't so injury prone i would say Andrew Bogut. Doesn't score alot of points but shoots at a decent clip for his career at 52.2%. But what really makes him so valuable is his defense. In the two seasons before he had that horrible injury he was averaging around 2.5 blocks a game and and around 10.5 rebounds a game. I'd love to see how he goes playing a full season and hopefully next season we can see that.

 

[ThisisBDub]

#1 Bynum - No Questions
#2 Howard - A Close Second
#3 Al Horford - Great Game, Needs to go to a better team and you'll see his full potential.

 

[Owen 3:16 says I just stole your Slammy!!]

I think that Roy Hibbert of the Pacers should get some respect. Right now, he is not the third best. But, I think in couple of more years that he can be one of the best centers in the game. He made an All-Star apperance this year and the coach's voted him in. Just the other night, he had 9 block shots in the first game of the series against the Magic.

I think of right now, The third best center is Joakim Noah.