NBA Center Rankings: Mid-Season Fantasy Basketball

February 16, 2014

RotoBaller Brad Leibfried breaks down the top 25 centers in fantasy basketball at the all-star break. If you want to know who to target in the second half, RotoBaller has you covered

All-Star Break Fantasy Basketball Rankings: Centers

Without a doubt the thinnest position in fantasy basketball is the center position.  Outside the top three of DeMarcus Cousins, Joakim Noah and Al Jefferson, everyone on the list has deficiencies in their games.  With that said, Cousins, Noah and Jefferson have been huge impact fantasy options thus far.  Cousins contributes across the board with season averages of 22.9 points, 11.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.2 blocks a game.  It is amazing that he is putting up those numbers despite playing just over 32 minutes a game as he has struggled with foul trouble at times.  Outside of scoring, Noah is every bit the equal of Cousins with yearly totals of 11.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.3 blocks a game.  Jefferson is the best scorer of the group and has finally found his rhythm in Charlotte, putting up 28.7 points a game over the last two weeks.  If you have any of these guys, then you are happy to not have to any worries about the center position this year.

Outside of the top three, the remaining centers all have positive aspects of their games but will leave you wanting more in other areas.  Dwight Howard is a prime example of this; in his first year in Houston he is dominating points at 18.6 a game, rebounding at 12.4 a game and blocks with 1.8 per contest.  However, Howard is again struggling from the free throw line (just 54% on the year) and contributes next to nothing in terms of assists and steals.  The same can be said for DeAndre Jordan in Los Angeles as the Clippers big man leads the NBA in rebounding but destroys your free throw percentage and assist numbers.  On the right team these types of centers can be absolute studs, but if they are not surrounded by the right players they can hurt your overall team.

When you go down the rankings you will notice some highly touted young big men who have yet to live up to expectations this year.  With the departure of Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson in Utah, most believed that Enes Kanter would fill the starting center role and provide nightly double-double production.  Although he has shown flashes of brilliance during the year, he is putting up just 11.8 points and 6 rebounds per contest thus far.  With Derrick Favors being injured on and off this season, Favors should still see solid minutes and it’s not out of the question for him to meet early expectations.  Much like Kanter, Jonas Valanciunas entered the year with high hopes for the Raptors. Last year he averaged 9 points and 6 rebounds a game in just 23 minutes, the expectation was that he would move into the mid-thirties in minutes and get to 15 points and 9 rebounds a game.  Thus far he is only on the floor for 28 minutes a game with 10.8 points and 8.8 rebounds a game.  Right now the talent is there but with other scoring options on the team Valanciunas looks more like a reserve fantasy player than a starter.  Here are RotoBaller's rankings for the top 25 centers in fantasy basketball at the all-star break.

Top 25 Centers for Fantasy Basketball