RADIO
It’s the holiday season, and I hope everyone is in festive spirits despite the struggles of the center on their roster. There is good news, though. Odds are that you probably weren’t counting on your center being the main scoring contributor for your team anyway. Typically speaking, centers should be very consistent in their production in terms of rebounds and blocks. Those are effort categories, and they don’t sway much with hot and cold shooting faced by the other positions. With that said, let’s take a look at a few big name centers and decide if they belong on the naughty list.
NBA Under-Performing Stars: Power Forward Edition
Tim Duncan (C, SA)
The big fundamental has really dropped off in scoring production this season. Tim Duncan’s decline is completely understandable, as the addition of LaMarcus Aldridge and the focus on Kawhi Leonard as the centerpiece of the Spurs offense has relegated Duncan to the third or fourth scoring option on the team. Who can blame them? Why not ease up on old man Duncan and let the younger legs take over? Of course this is a difficult position for fantasy owners, as Duncan has provided only 9.2 points per game, to go along with 8.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.4 blocks. Is it time to make a move with the big fundamental?
Trade him.
Aside from scoring, Duncan’s stats are definitely satisfactory. However, it’s all going downhill from here. Duncan is already receiving occasional rest and his production has dipped from the first month of the season. In the month of December, Duncan has received two off days. That also happens to be the same number of double-digit scoring performances Duncan has put up. If you’re counting on Duncan’s blocks and rebounds, Alex Len and Bismack Biyombo are both great temporary plugs to shore up those categories. In the long run, Duncan will only expect to see less and less court time as he stays fresh for another big playoff effort, and you should not want any part of that.
Dwight Howard (C, HOU)
Truthfully, Dwight Howard may or may not belong on this list depending on how you view the idea of an under-performing star. There is no question that Dwight Howard is still extremely talented and can put up great lines on any given night. Just on Saturday, Howard scored 22 points with 14 rebounds and 2 blocks in just 26 minutes of action. The issue is that Howard is still very much underutilized on this Rockets team. He is fifth on the team in field goal attempts, and has often disappeared from games on the scoring end. On the year, Howard has averaged 12.7 points with 11.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks. Should you look to sell high?
Hold him.
Unless you can seriously sweet talk an inexperienced fantasy player into giving you a top tier center in return for Howard, it’s just not worth giving up Howard’s potential production. His blocks and rebounds are still abundant, and his scoring output can be patched up with smart streaming if you play in a H2H league. If you play Roto, you at least have the benefit of working with limits and don’t suffer much from Howard’s rest days, despite his bad free throw shooting. If Howard has a few great throwback games in a row, dangle him in front of the DeAndre Jordan owner or the Hassan Whiteside owner in your league. If they don’t bite, don’t feel like you need to settle for anything less.
Enes Kanter (C, OKC)
Enes Kanter was able to fit into the Thunder offense very well last season in the absence of Kevin Durant. He played well alongside Russell Westbrook, who finally had an offensively talented big man that could finish around the rim. The issue this year is that the Thunder just have too many mouths to feed. The return of Kevin Durant obviously eats up a huge chunk of the available points and boards, and the nice play of Steven Adams has also cut into Kanter’s minutes. After a nice fantasy season last year, Kanter is only averaging 11.1 points and 7.9 rebounds. He just posted a great double double on Saturday against the Lakers, so should you continue to believe in him?
Drop him.
Don’t think too highly of a good performance against the Lakers in which the Thunder was able to dominate almost the entire game. Let someone else have him and limit their fantasy team. Kanter is just not a viable fantasy option this season, as he is playing only 20.2 minutes per game and still has no ability to put up blocks whatsoever. You have to be more lenient with guys like Tim Duncan and Dwight Howard because blocks are very hard to come by. However, Kanter just doesn’t bring anything to the table aside from the decent scoring and rebounding. Len and Biyombo are once again great options to supplement your team with blocks and rebounds should you choose to cut ties with Kanter. Remember, Kanter is playing like a poor man’s Zach Randolph right now.
