NBA News: 3 Centers That Could Be Moved in 2011-12

The following slides contain information on three current NBA centers that could find themselves changing zip codes sometime during the 2011-12 NBA season (assuming there is one). Teams are always looking to add some depth to their frontcourt, especially as the playoffs approach. 

Once  a labor agreement is reached and free agency begins, one can bet that these players will hear their names being exchanged in trade proposals, but it is more likely that if they are moved, it will take place closer to the trade deadline.

Let's meet the players!

Chris Kaman

Kaman is entering the final year of his contract with the Clippers, who he has been a member of since they drafted him sixth overal in the first round of the 2003 NBA Draft.

Kaman is coming off a 2010-11 NBA season that saw his scoring average go down compared to his 2009-10 NBA season, in part due to injuries that forced him to miss number of games. Kaman averaged a career-high 18.5 points along with 9.3 rebounds per game before averaging only 12.4 points and 7.0 rebounds this past season.

The Clippers are also in the midst of rebuilding around Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, Eric Bledsoe, Al-Farouq Aminu and Eric Gordon, meaning that Kaman could be out of the picture when talking about the future of the Clippers franchise.

However, a seven-footer that has put up pretty good numbers in the NBA can be had in free agency or in the trade market, which is a way for the Clippers to make sure that they can get some assets in return for Kaman.

Mehmet Okur

Okur is coming of a 2010-11 campaign that saw him play in only 13 games in which he averaged only 4.9 points per game. Okur suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon injury at the very beginning of the 2010 playoffs, causing him to miss the playoffs and much of the 2010-11 NBA season. 

He is entering the second year of the two-year contract extension he signed with the Jazz in 2009. He's a big man who can shoot the three-pointer, as he has shown since entering the NBA in 2002, after being taken by the Detroit Pistons in the second round of the 2001 NBA Draft..

The 2011-12 season is a big one for Okur—one in which he has to prove that he can play as well as he did before his Achilles injury.

Ryan Hollins

Hollins, a former high jumper, is an athletic center who was selected by the Charlotte Bobcats in the second round of the 2006 NBA Draft after a four-year basketbll career at UCLA. Hollins has since played for the Dallas Mavericks and the Minnesota Timberwolves before joining the Cavaliers via trade in July 2010.

Hollins is a “project” type of player—more of a Ben Wallace type in that he is not a scorer but does the “little things” that do not show up on the box score.

Hollins averaged 5.3 points and 2.7 rebounds while playing a career-high 16.9 minutes per game during the 2010-11 NBA season. With only one year remaining on his contract, Hollins could be a trade possibility, especially for a team looking to add some depth in the frontcourt.