Erick Blasco's Top 30 NBA Centers

NBA centers are the biggest of the behemoths, possessing a frightening combination of size and strength. They’re usually in the best position to score because they set up closest to the basket, and are typically the final fortress of a team’s defense.

This list does not take into account a player’s future prospects or past salad days. The criteria is simple: Which NBA center is best suited to being an integral part of a championship team this year.

Due to the way some NBA lineups are presently constructed, a handful of teams have two potential centers in their lineup. For that reason, Antonio McDyess, Pao Gasol, Amare Stoudemire, Marcus Camby, Ben Wallace, and Jeff Foster are listed as power forwards, as they will probably play the power forward position in their team’s starting lineups.

No rookies made the list, as neither you nor I have seen them play in meaningful games against meaningful competition to know where they should be ranked. By all accounts, Greg Oden will be good. Nobody can accurately say how good.

With that said, the list:

1) Yao Ming—Houston Rockets

When Yao's healthy, he has the right combination of strength, finesse, offense, and defense to be the best center in the game. He’s an uncanny mid-range jump shooter, a willing passer, and he’s comfortable in either box, though he has a noticeable hitch in his hook shots which allow smaller players chances to alter or block the attempt.

Also, because of his towering height, dribbling is a problem, as is passing on the move —meaning turnovers will always plague him.

He’s intelligent, humble to a fault, a terrific rebounder, and sets earth-shattering screens because referees let him move while setting them.

On defense, his massive frame is his best weapon as he towers over any attempts to post him up. Players with face-up skills cause him difficulty, and he’s often a half-step slow against ball-penetration.

Considering how crude Dwight Howard’s offensive arsenal and defensive instincts are, Yao is the reigning center supreme in the NBA until Howard’s brain catches up with his body.

2) Dwight Howard—Orlando Magic

Howard is already the best rebounder in the entire league, sets bone-breaking screens, is a ferocious dive-cutter, and is a gifted shot blocker. When he’s able to use his massive shoulders to muscle away an opposing defender, he has an effective, if simple, right hook from the left box, and a left hook from the right box with virtually no counter moves.

On defense, Howard is still learning the nuances of timing, footwork, and how to attack ball-penetrations, though his court-awareness is very low. Good post players and penetrators aren’t discouraged by Howard’s presence, and in an offense without Orlando’s spacing, his production would be limited to put-backs and the occasional right hook.

Still, the sky is the limit for this phenomenally talented youngster.

3) Rasheed Wallace—Detroit Pistons

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