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Fantasy Basketball Player Tiers – Centers

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Categorized as: Author: Patrick, Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Draft Guide Mojo 2008, NBA Basketball, Random Stuff
Posted on: October 18th, 2008

We’re coming to the home stretch of the GMTR positional tiers, which is good because half of the world’s drafts have already happened. The positional tiering system starts to break down at the center position thanks to Yahoo and their decision to give every player over 6-6 center eligibility. So they have so many more centers available than other sites, which wouldn’t necessarily be a problem, except that Yahoo is far and away the most popular fantasy basketball site out there.* For the purposes of this post, I’ll try to split things up for Yahoo leagues and non-Yahoo leagues.

Tier 1

Amare Stoudemire (2 on the GMTR Big Board)

Nels and I both have Amare ranked number 2 on the Big Board and regardless of whether you love him in the same caring way we do, he should go in the top 4 of every draft.

Tier 2

Marcus Camby (13)

I’ll admit it, Camby worries me a little bit this season for the simple fact that he was shipped from of a team he wanted to be a part of to the Clippers – a place that generally resembles fantasy hell. And while Camby played in an amazing 79 games last season, it was the most of his 12-year career. I wouldn’t be shocked to see him play in less than 60 games this season.

And in Yahoo Leagues also include:

Elton Brand (8)
Carlos Boozer (15)
Al Jefferson (18)
Chris Bosh (19)

Really, I’m not sure why Yahoo requires positions anymore, since just about every PF also qualifies at center. It also brings attention to the point that you have to pay much closer attention to the C spot in non-Yahoo leagues, since there are many fewer centers available.

Even in non-Yahoo leagues, Al Jefferson should gain C eligibility early in the season. Jefferson is a straight up beast who can probably gotten at a good value in a lot of drafts. He averaged 21 and 11 last year and didn’t miss a game. Kevin Love is going to suck hard, but Jefferson (who is still only 23) will keep getting better.

Tier 3

Andrew Bynum (30)
Rasheed Wallace (41)
Yao Ming (44)
Dwight Howard (55)

We love Bynum at GMTR. A little more than most. Here are the facts: he averaged a double-double last year with 2.1 blocks a game. At 20 years of age. Ok, he was limited to 35 games because of injury, and the addition of Pau Gasol to the Lakers’ lineup is certainly going to make Bynum have to work a little harder for points and rebounds. But much like my (brilliant) hunch about Darko a couple years ago, I have a good feeling about Bynum.

This much we do know: Ming is going to give your team 20 and 10 with sweet, sweet percentages. The question is for how many games? He’s averaged about 54 the last three years and is going into the season with a stress fracture in his foot that is still healing. I’m probably going to stay away from Ming, but you could probably do worse than taking a chance on the guy in the 4th round.

Dwight Howard can be a valuable center if you know how to use him correctly in H2H leagues. Some people won’t agree with me, but I think tanking FT% in H2H leagues can be a successful strategy. If you go that route, Howard is one of the best centers in the league, averaging over 20 points, 14 boards and 2 blocks a game. Don’t touch him in a roto league, though.

And some more Yahoo centers:

Pau Gasol (27)
Tim Duncan (29)

Tier 4

51 Greg Oden (51)
55 Jermaine O’Neal (55)
56 Andris Biedrins (56)
59 Mehmet Okur (59)
62 Brad Miller (62)
63 Chris Kaman (63)

I think people looking to draft Oden this year are going to be hit with some youth tax action. He’s going to rebound and block some shots, but there is a whole lot of risk in that pick. Do you feel confident in him playing even in 70 games?

I’ll take responsibility in that Jermaine O’Neal ranking. Nels wants nothing to do with him. But given the choice between O’Neal, an injury prone vet who we know can be a great player when healthy and Greg Oden, likely injury prone guy who we haven’t see what he can do when healthy, and I’d rather have O’Neal. Maybe I’ll miss out on Greg Oden’s amazing breakout season, but I’m living to live with that.

Mehmet Okur finish the last two months of the 2007-08 season averaging 16 and 10 with 2 threes a game. If he can keep it up, it would put him on par with his career best 2005-06 season.

Yahoo!

LaMarcus Aldridge (56)

Tier 5

Tyson Chandler (78)
Troy Murphy (82)
Zydrunas Ilgauskas (89)
Samuel Dalembert (90)
Emeka Okafor (97)
Al Horford (98)
Andrew Bogut (99)

Andrew Bogut has been getting a lot of love in the fantasy drafts I’ve been participated in. For example, he went 36 in the CBS-man league (although that might not be the best example of normal drafting). I like 10 rebounds a game as much as the next guy, but the rest of his game isn’t exactly strong.

Yahoo

Al Harrington (85)

Tier 6

Nick Collison (111)

Call him Nick “The last center you want to draft” Collison. He’s not great, but you can be fairly confident that he’ll get you 10 and 9 and… not much else. He does sport one of the best five o’clock shadows this side of Bruce Willis.

And in Yahoo Leagues:

Nene Hilario (105) would be great if he could stay on the court for more than 5 minutes a year. He might be worth taking a chance on in both Yahoo and non-Yahoo leagues since he’ll be the Nuggets starting center thanks to the departure of Marcus Camby. He’ll gain eligibility at center, provided he can play in more than 5 games this season.

Tier 7

Kurt Thomas (132)
Jeff Foster (134)
Erick Dampier (151)
Kendrick Perkins (163)
Joakim Noah (164)
Ben Wallace (167)
Mikki Moore (176)
Rasho Nesterovic (177)
Anderson Varejao (182)
Sean Williams (202)
Marc Gasol (210)
Andrea Bargnani (219)
Roy Hibbert (thanks to Daniel)

Maybe you see something in there you like. I’m still looking for a center in the CBS 30-man (like last year, it’s an epic draft in every way possible – including me watching people overpay for centers while I draft a bunch of shooting guards) and I need your help. Who should I take out of this group? P.S. Perkins and Bargnani are gone.

*I’m assuming. Just about everyone I know uses Yahoo, but it could be that my circle of trust is too small.

Other Stuff Like This:

  • http://www.givemetherock.com Nels

    I vote for Joakim Noah.

  • http://www.givemetherock.com Patrick

    Nels, you homer, you…

  • http://www.2ndroundreach.blogspot.com Brendan K.

    In order, I’d say

    1) Noah – Seems likely to average 7 boards with a block and a steal. He’s got the starter’s job to start the year, and only really Aaron Gray to give him competition. As long as he doesn’t out-right SUCK I like his chances at producing those modest stats at least consistently.

    2) Marc Gasol – I’ve been on record as saying he could average something close to Al Horford’s rookie numbers. 7ish blocks with more upside in blocks than Noah, but there’s a bit more uncertainty of whether or not he’ll get real minutes for the whole season.

    3) Foster ain’t pretty, but if you only need boards from your center, he’ll do right?

    So I guess Nick Collison is already off the board?

  • The DL

    I would be fine with having Noah, Gasol, Rasho or Foster (in that order) on my team in a huge league. Williams too if you’ve got some guys who can block shots (in H2H) or no matter what in roto (he will pull you to the middle of the pile in blocks if he plays even a little).

  • http://redblanket.org Daniel

    Roy Hibbert? A monster playing behind two greasy white guys with little upside on a rebuilding Pacers team?

  • terrance

    id take noah and gasol in that order. The minutes are there for both so no worries on playing time.

  • http://www.epicte.com Nick

    First of all, totally agree with Nels and Brendan and Terrance in terms of what you should do in the CBS league. I really like Noah this year, esp. the 1-steal-1-block action you’re likely to see.

    I also had to say that I am in love with your punting FT% theory. Actually, if you punt both FT% and TOs – which is, admittedly, some seriously ballsy puntage – Howard projects to a top-3 pick this year. Food for the mind.

  • Max

    The rest of Bogut’s game isn’t exactly strong? Bogut is improving every year, and along with his 10 rebounds per game, he gives 14.4 ppg, 51.1 FG%, almost 3 assists, and almost 2 blocks and 1 steal. His glaring weakness is FT% at 58.7, but you don’t draft bigs for that. I’m not hesitating to take Bogut ahead of anyone in your tier 5 of centers, and a lot of your tier 4 guys also.

  • http://fantasysportscomplaintbox.blogspot.com/ Upstate Underdog

    I had Foster and Dampier fill in for my team last year whn I wasn’t playing Wilcox or Al Jefferson

  • Dowjones

    sean williams will give you blocks aglore so if it’s h2h and you need some blocks….

    Noah, Gasol, dampier and big ben should all be able to give you some rebs and blks, i think noah’ll give you the most balanced and consistent production (8 rebs, 1 stl, 1 blk, 2 ast) while Gasol, i think has the most potential.

    Another “safe” choice would be mikki moore since i really don’t think JT or Hawes are odl enough yet to do much. Also keep an eye on diop, if he get mins he’ll give you rebs and blks and no TOs!!

  • http://www.givemetherock.com Patrick

    Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Noah most likely would have been my first choice as well (Collison was off the board fairly quickly), and in fact, he was the next center to go. Mike Yam of ESPN picked him with the 10th pick in the 5th round (130 overall), 6 spots before my turn. I was still in need of a starting SF in addition to a center, so I rolled with Shane Battier at pick #136 today. Gasol, Foster, Ben Wallace, Dampier, Diop, Mohammed, Hibbert, Sean Williams, Brook Lopez (and Darko!) are all still available. Mikki Moore does not qualify at center in CBS leagues, although Anderson Varejao does, which could be an intriguing choice. And I may have one especially crazy trick up my sleeve, if I decide to go all in for the win. Stay tuned.

    @Max, you are correct in saying the Bogut’s game has improved every year, which may be why some people are taking a shot at him so high in drafts. And I was being lazy by calling his 1.7 blocked shots per game last season “not strong” when he was actually one of the better shot blockers in the league. His assists and steals have basically been flat since he came into the league, so I wouldn’t expect much more from him there and his FT% is downright atrocious. I personally wouldn’t put him into tier 4, but I guess if you’re someone who is expecting his big improvements to continue this season, you’d probably bump him up into the higher tier based on that upside.

  • http://redblanket.org Daniel

    Let’s giter on with the reader league draft already. I’m hungry.