Here's a look at the Top 10 Centers for the 2016-17 NBA seaspon and don't forget to check out the rest of the Fantasy Basketball Player Rankings here at Fantasy Alarm.
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1. DeMarcus Cousins: Cousins once again put up MVP type numbers last season, but continues to play on a team where wins have been hard to come by. The Kings have a new coach and new offense this season in which Cousins has publicly stated that he loves. There is not another center in the league the has the shown the consistency to put up the numbers that Cousins has produced. Expect a fourth straight season of an average of more than 22 pts, 11.5 reb, 3 ast, 1blk, and 1.5 steals per game.
2. Karl-Anthony Towns: Last year’s rookie of the year as well as skills challenge winner will start his second season with Thibodeau as the new head coach for the T-Wolves. Towns played and started in all 82 games last year, averaging 32 minutes per game. He finished with a double double average of 18.3 pts and 10.5 rebounds while coming close to blocking two shots a game. With Thibs defensive knowledge, expect Towns to continue to produce on the offensive end, but show an increase in his defensive stats.
3. Hassan Whiteside: With the departure of Wade, the Heat signed Whiteside to a four year, $98 million dollar contract, and expecting Whiteside to continue with defensive dominance while adding to his offensive production. Whiteside led the league in blocks per game last season with an average of 3.7. He managed to to average a double double for the second straight season, with 14.2 points and 11.8 rounds in 73 games last season. With no Bosh and Wade, expect him to be a full time starter, as he only started in 43 games last season. So far this preseason, Whiteside has looked great on both sides of the court, with at least a .625% or higher shooting average from the field in all four games.
4. DeAndre Jordan: Jordan will provide you with plenty of rebounds and blocks as he averaged at least 13.6 boards and 2.2 blocks per game the past three seasons. On the offensive side, Jordan’s 12.7 ppg came off only 6.6 FGA per game. Both numbers were career highs for Jordan, as well as leading the league last season with 227 dunks which got him over 70% shooting for the second straight year. Once again, free throws will continue to haunt Jordan, but his defensive skills make up for it most of the time.
5. Al Horford: Horford will be entering his first season with Boston after playing his first nine seasons in Atlanta. Horford has missed only six game over the last two seasons, while producing nearly identical season averages of roughly 15 pts, 7 reb, and 3 ast per game. He won’t make your team look flashy, but the offense in Boston may run through Horford, and believe he was the piece that is missing from challenging the Cavs in the east this season.
6. Pau Gasol: After two seasons with the Bulls, Gasol has moved on to be the 15 year veteran taking over for the retired Duncan. As shown with Aldridge last season, the Spurs won’t play Gasol as many minutes as his former team played. Gasol has never averaged less than 31 minutes a game throughout his career, and finished last season with his lowest scoring average (16.5 ppg) in his career when playing close to a full season. He did average 11 boards 4 assists, and 2 blocks a game though. The two year deal with the Spurs may be Gasol’s last chance at one last title run, so look for him to contribute any way he is asked to to help make that happen.
7. Andre Drummond: Drummond has increased both his points and rebounds per game in each of his first four years in the league, finishing with 16.2 points and a league leading 14.8 rebounds a game last season. He has only missed two games over the last three seasons, and all of this helped with him receiving a five year, $130 million contract. All signs point to another increase in production this season as Drummond has 41 boards in three preseason games.
8. Nikola Vucevic: With the Magic signing two big contracts in acquiring two big men in Ibaka and Biyombo, as well as the shooter Crawford, it will be interesting to see what Vucevic’s role will look like throughout the season. After averaging double doubles through his first three seasons with the Magic, Vucevic finished a little short last season with 18.2 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. It’s hard to think he will receive a significant drop in minutes, but may not receive the little over 16 field goal attempts he averaged the past two seasons.
9. Jonas Valanciunas: The Toronto big man hit career highs last season in both points (12.8) and rebounds (9.1) but played in a career low 60 games last season. The interesting narrative with Jonas is if his court time will increase now that Biyombo has moved on. Sullinger has joined as the backup, but if Valanciunas continues to improve the court time will be there. He’s only 24, and expect last season’s stats to be his floor this year.
10. Marc Gasol: Selecting Gasol does not come without any risk. Last season’s 52 games played was the lowest in his eight year career, with receiving foot surgery which forced him out of the final 30 games as well as the Olympics. Memphis has already said that he will sit out some games this season, more likely in back to back situations. Gasol’s upside is the ability he has to stuff that stat sheets in all categories. Over the last four seasons, he has averaged at least 14 points, 7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and roughly both a steal and block per game. Memphis went “younger” towards the end of last season, and may continue that trend again this year.