Sports
NBA rankings: The Top 24 centers for the 2023-24 season – Hoops Hype
September 29, 2023– by Frank Urbina
By Frank Urbina |
The time has come for us to wrap up our offseason series ranking the Top 24 players at every position ahead of the much-anticipated 2023-24 season. We’ve already ranked the Top 24 point guards, shooting guards, small forwards and power forwards for the 2023-24 season.
Now, we focus on the center position, which has witnessed a remarkable influx of top-end talent recently. Lest we forget, we’re only seven years removed from DeAndre Jordan making 1st Team All-NBA. Today, the position features two perennial MVP candidates, players with All-NBA potential and some All-Stars sprinkled in.
Below, we present the Top 24 centers for the 2023-24 season, as decided by a vote and ranking by our panel of writers and editors.
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One of the most likable players in the NBA today kicks off our list, as Memphis Grizzlies big man Steven Adams checks in as our 24th-best center for the 2023-24 season. Adams might not put up the biggest numbers but he is quite efficient as a scorer, a top-level rebounder and screen-setter and overall excellent in his role, as evidenced by him making Memphis 8.3 points per 100 possessions better during his time on the floor. Adams ranked sixth in the league in nightly rebounds last season and had the Grizzlies looking like championship contenders before injury ended his season after just 42 games.
Before Adams got hurt, Memphis had the third-best record in the NBA (31-15) and second-best net rating (plus-5.4); following the injury that ended his season, the Grizzlies went 20-17 and had just a plus-2.1 net rating, No. 13 in the NBA in that span. Quietly, Adams is one of the most impactful centers in the league.
2022-23 stats: 8.6 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.1 bpg, 59.7 FG% in 42 games
2023-24 salary: $12,600,000 (120th overall in salary)
For more on Steven Adams, including a scouting report and accolades, click here.
Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
Despite now being 37, Boston Celtics center Al Horford is still trucking along at a pretty high level, playing a vital role last season on what was a great Celtics team, one that came within a game of reaching the Finals for the second straight year. Horford actually hit a career-high 44.6 percent of his shots from three last season, the highest mark of his time in the NBA in a season he attempted more than six three-pointers.
On the other hand, Horford’s 9.8 points per game last season were the lowest mark of his career, though it’s going to be difficult for him to score much on a team with shot-makers (and shot-takers) like All-NBAers Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. What’s more important is that the floor-spacing, defensively versatile Horford still made Boston better during his time on the floor, so his impact is still a very positive one.
2022-23 stats: 9.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.0 bpg, 47.6 FG% in 63 games
2023-24 salary: $10,000,000 (157th overall in salary)
For more on Al Horford, including a scouting report and accolades, click here.
Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports
Injuries limited the other Celtics big man Robert Williams to just 35 games last season, continuing what’s been sort of a trend so far in Williams’ career, as the former Texas A&M standout has yet to play in more than 61 games in a year. (Good thing Boston picked up another big man known for his health like Kristaps Porzingis this summer, huh?) Either way, Williams is quite impactful when he is out there, as he’s an elite finisher down low and an excellent shot-blocker thanks to his length and athleticism. His offensive game is limited to dunks and he’s not great at defending switches but even so, he’s one of the better centers in the NBA thanks to his skill set and physical traits.
2022-23 stats: 8.0 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.4 bpg, 74.7 FG% in 35 games
2023-24 salary: $11,571,429 (138th overall in salary)
For more on Robert Williams, including a scouting report and accolades, click here.
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Another high-level role player, Golden State Warriors center Kevon Looney has played some of the best basketball of his career over the past two seasons, setting a career-high in points and rebounds in 2022-23, making the Warriors 6.4 points per 100 possessions better during his time on the floor. There was a time when Golden State couldn’t wait to bench its starting center and have Draymond Green at the 5, but these days Looney is a part of a lot of the Warriors’ best lineups thanks to his screen-setting, defensive toughness and rebounding. He can even knock down a short midrange jumper when needed, displaying great growth as a player since his rookie year when he averaged 1.8 points in five appearances.
2022-23 stats: 7.0 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 2.0 apg, 0.6 bpg, 63.0 FG% in 82 games
2023-24 salary: $7,500,000 (198th overall in salary)
For more on Kevon Looney, including a scouting report and accolades, click here.
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Somewhat of an afterthought as part of the Nikola Vucevic trade, Orlando Magic center Wendell Carter today isn’t too far off from the center he was traded for, at least when it comes to impact. He might not be an All-Star like Vucevic but Carter is a good face-up scorer who can attack strong closeouts by driving to the basket and is a solid three-point shooter, hitting a respectable 35.6 percent of his threes last season. Carter has also made the Magic 5.7 points per 100 possessions better when he’s been on the floor over the past two seasons, proving that his numbers are far from empty. Surprisingly still just 24, Carter may still have room to grow, too, as he’s got an impressive level of skill in a 6-foot-10, 270-pound package.
2022-23 stats: 15.2 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 2.3 apg, 0.6 bpg, 52.5 FG% in 57 games
2023-24 salary: $13,050,000 (116th overall in salary)
For more on Wendell Carter, including a scouting report and accolades, click here.
Patrick McDermott/Getty Images
A floor-spacing center, Milwaukee Bucks big man Bobby Portis has hit 40.2 percent of his threes over the past three seasons, making him one of the most accurate shooters from the arc among centers in the league today. Portis is also a post-up threat and a good face-up scorer, as he has a solid ball handle and instincts as a scorer while providing good rebounding on both ends. Portis’ problem is his defense, as he doesn’t protect the rim and isn’t the fleetest of foot when forced to switch. What’s more, last season, he made the Bucks 5.9 points per 100 possessions worse during his time on the floor after he made Milwaukee 7.9 points per 100 possessions better just the season prior, a huge and unexpected drop-off. Nevertheless, we expect a bounce-back season from Portis next season, as he’s proven to be great in his role as a bench scorer for Milwaukee over recent years.
2022-23 stats: 14.1 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 1.5 apg, 0.2 bpg, 49.6 FG% in 70 games
2023-24 salary: $11,710,818 (134th overall in salary)
For more on Bobby Portis, including a scouting report and accolades, click here.
Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
One of the NBA’s best shot-blockers off the bat as a rookie, Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler finished third in Rookie of the Year voting in 2022-23 thanks in part to blocking 2.3 shots nightly, the No. 4 mark in the NBA. Kessler was also an elite finisher around the basket, scoring 72.0 percent of his field-goal attempts on the year. Sure, that’s partly a product of Kessler being very limited on offense and the majority of his shot attempts being dunks but even so, he doesn’t try to do too much and is elite at the basics. That’s important. Kessler ranked in the NBA’s 80th percentile in finishing out of the pick-and-roll, too, one of the NBA’s most important play types, and with numbers that efficient as a rookie-year player, we expect an even bigger season for Year-2 Kessler.
2022-23 stats: 9.2 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 0.9 apg, 2.3 bpg, 72.0 FG% in 74 games
2023-24 salary: $2,831,160 (328th overall in salary)
For more on Walker Kessler, including a scouting report and accolades, click here.
Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
Because he’s been around forever and has been putting up the same numbers for quite some time, he sometimes may get overlooked, but Atlanta Hawks big man Clint Capela remains one of the NBA’s better centers. Somewhat surprisingly, Capela isn’t even 30 yet, so although he may be a finished product without much potential for growth, his current product is a very good one. He’s a double-double machine, ranking seventh in rebounds per game last season, as well as an elite finisher out of the pick-and-roll, producing 1.38 points per possession (PPP) as a pick-and-roll roller in 2022-23, a mark that put him in the league’s 90th percentile. An expert in his role, the Hawks should be glad to have Capela around for another year to finish lobs set up by All-Star guards Trae Young and Dejounte Murray.
2022-23 stats: 12.0 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 0.9 apg, 1.2 bpg, 65.3 FG% in 65 games
2023-24 salary: $20,616,000 (71st overall in salary)
For more on Clint Capela, including a scouting report and accolades, click here.
Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Another above-average starter, Toronto Raptors center Jakob Poeltl is another player who doesn’t try to do too much but excels in his role. Along with his finishing around the rim out of the pick-and-roll, boxing-out prowess and toughness on defense, Poeltl is quietly one of the better playmaking centers in the NBA, too, especially adept at creating for teammates out of the short roll by either dumping it off to someone nearer the rim or to an open teammate spotting up for a corner three. The advanced analytics love Poeltl, too, with the soon-to-be 28-year-old ranking roughly in the Top 60 among all players in VORP (59th), BPM (53rd) and WS/48 (43rd) for 2022-23. We expect more of the same positive impact out of Poeltl in 2023-24.
2022-23 stats: 12.5 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.2 bpg, 62.9 FG% in 72 games
2023-24 salary: $20,000,000 (75th overall in salary)
For more on Jakob Poeltl, including a scouting report and accolades, click here.
Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
A throwback big man among the fleeter-of-foot, floor-spacing centers of 2023, New Orleans Pelicans big man Jonas Valanciunas is a bruiser down low, a post-up threat, a brutal screen-setter and an excellent rebounder. He has even adapted his game a bit to the modern game, shooting 35.8 percent from three over the past three seasons on 324 attempts.
His efficiency as a post-up scorer has taken a hit as he’s gotten older, though, as last season, Valanciunas had the highest frequency of possessions ending in a post-up opportunity (28.5 percent) but created just 0.98 PPP on the play type, placing him in the league’s 57th percentile. If a player is going to be posting up more than anyone else in the league, he needs to be more efficient at it or his team is going to go away from that action.
2022-23 stats: 14.1 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 1.8 apg, 0.7 bpg, 54.7 FG% in 79 games
2023-24 salary: $15,435,000 (106th overall in salary)
For more on Jonas Valanciunas, including a scouting report and accolades, click here.
Candice Ward/Getty Images
One of the centers that we are most excited to watch in 2023-24 is Oklahoma City Thunder rookie, Chet Holmgren, who missed what was supposed to be his first season last year due to injury. Holmgren suited up in Summer League this offseason, putting up 16.5 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.5 blocks and shooting 48.9 percent from the floor. That includes his one-for-11 shooting from three in four games, which one has to assume will improve once we get to real games just based on his history and shooting stroke.
Holmgren is as mobile as they come at center, quick and with a solid ball handle that will allow him to grab a defensive rebound and bring the ball down himself. The Gonzaga product should be a great finisher down low and can hit midrange jumpers, as well as threes. He’s also unselfish, willing to distribute the ball when needed, and an elite shot-blocker thanks to his length and instincts.
2023-24 salary: $10,386,000 (154th overall in salary)
For more on Chet Holmgren, including a scouting report and accolades, click here.
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
A center who could take a huge leap heading into next season, which we fully expect to happen considering his place in this ranking, is Houston Rockets big man Alperen Sengun. Sengun heads into his third NBA season with a lot of momentum, coming off a nice year in 2022-23 and following that up with a great showing playing for Turkey in international competition this summer.
Sengun is a player both the analytics and the eye test are quite high on – as VORP, BPM and WS/48 all already had him as a Top 90 player in the NBA last season (he was 53rd in BPM) while he also boasts a very aesthetically pleasing game. Sengun has crafty throwback post-up moves, can shoot jumpers and is a creative passer, performing very much in the mold of the player coming up at No. 1 on this list. Under first-year year head coach Ime Udoka in Houston, we expect a big leap out of Sengun in 2023-24.
2022-23 stats: 14.8 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 3.9 apg, 0.9 bpg, 55.3 FG% in 75 games
2023-24 salary: $3,536,280 (286th overall in salary)
For more on Alperen Sengun, including a scouting report and accolades, click here.
Patrick McDermott/Getty Images
No. 3 in nightly blocks last season, veteran center Brook Lopez also shot 37.4 percent from three, making him one of the most unique and impactful big men in the league, even at the ripe age of 35. Regardless, Lopez has shown no sign of slowing down over recent years, which led to the Milwaukee Bucks re-signing him to a two-year, $48 million contract last summer amidst rumors the Stanford product might be headed to Houston.
2022-23 stats: 15.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.3 apg, 2.5 bpg, 53.1 FG% in 78 games
2023-24 salary: $25,000,000 (57th overall in salary)
For more on Brook Lopez, including a scouting report and accolades, click here.
David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
A solid double-double threat every time he steps on the floor, Cleveland Cavaliers big man Jarrett Allen is an adept rebounder and finisher around the basket, hitting 64.4 percent of his field goals last season. However, considering his physical gifts – elite length and athleticism – Allen should probably be averaging more than 1.2 blocks per game. What’s more, he wasn’t all that effective at the one play he runs more than any other as a finisher out of the pick-and-roll. In 2022-23, Allen produced 1.15 PPP as a pick-and-roll finisher, placing him in the NBA’s 55th percentile at a lower rate than the likes of Willy Hernangomez, who won’t even be in the NBA next season. Allen will need to improve his finishing out of the pick-and-roll and his toughness on the glass for the Cavaliers to make a deeper playoff push than they did in 2022-23.
2022-23 stats: 14.3 ppg, 9.8 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.2 bpg, 64.4 FG% in 68 games
2023-24 salary: $20,000,000 (75th overall in salary)
For more on Jarrett Allen, including a scouting report and accolades, click here.
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Even coming into 2023-24 averaging a 17-and-10 double-double for the entirety of his career, it still feels like the Phoenix Suns could have gotten more out of former No. 1 overall pick Deandre Ayton – that’s just the level of talent he has. A great athlete in a prototypical physical package for a center, and one with shooting ability and soft touch around the basket, Ayton has perennial All-Star potential but has yet to get there, and we’re getting to the point where we’re wondering if it will ever happen. Well, maybe the change of scenery he got this offseason will help him get to that point.
Ayton will now join a youth movement with the Portland Trail Blazers. Will that help improve his focus on defense? Because although shot-blocking isn’t the end-all, be-all for measuring defensive impact, for Ayton to have not even averaged one block in 2022-23 can only be seen as concerning. And it’s not like he’s a particularly adept defender on switches, either. With no pressure on him now and with surely more offensive looks on the way than he would have gotten in Phoenix, Ayton should be able to improve his raw numbers in Year 1 with the Blazers. We’ll have to wait and see if his actual impact on winning improves too, though.
2022-23 stats: 18.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 1.7 apg, 0.8 bpg, 58.9 FG% in 67 games
2023-24 salary: $32,459,438 (40th overall in salary)
For more on Deandre Ayton, including a scouting report and accolades, click here.
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One of the best young centers in the NBA who has taken major strides over recent years, Nic Claxton enters 2023-24 coming off by far the best season of his career. Claxton ranked first league-wide in field-goal percentage last season, second in nightly rejections and nearly averaged a double-double, something he very well could accomplish in 2023-24. What’s more, Claxton was dominant finishing out of the pick-and-roll, producing 1.36 PPP out of the play type, which placed him in the Association’s 90th percentile.
And defensively, on top of being an elite shot-blocker, Claxton is also one of the league’s better centers when it comes to switching onto ball-handlers thanks to his quick feet and length. He may be a bit thin, hurting him on the glass at times, and his offensive game is limited to around the basket but even so, Claxton is one of the most promising young big men in the league and a true building block for the Brooklyn Nets.
2022-23 stats: 12.6 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 1.9 apg, 2.5 bpg, 70.5 FG% in 76 games
2023-24 salary: $9,625,000 (164th overall in salary)
For more on Nic Claxton, including a scouting report and accolades, click here.
Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports
Minnesota Timberwolves big man Rudy Gobert had an up-and-down year with his new team, averaging a double-double and shooting nearly 66 percent from the floor but making – statistically – a negative impact for the first time in his career. With Gobert on the floor, Minnesota was actually 0.3 points per 100 possessions worse than when he was on the bench. Of course, it’s tough to entirely fault Gobert for that considering the Timberwolves decided to trade for an All-Star center already having an All-Star center (now a power forward) in Karl-Anthony Towns on their roster.
Maybe Towns and Gobert will mesh better next season. Or maybe the Timberwolves will have to admit defeat and trade one of their two centers for pennies on the dollar. Lest we forget, the team also gave a third center – the talented Naz Reid – $42 million this summer. If it were 1993, the Timberwolves would have an elite roster built around plodding big men. Unfortunately for them, it’s not 30 years ago so we’ll see what happens here.
2022-23 stats: 13.4 ppg, 11.6 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.4 bpg, 65.9 FG% in 70 games
2023-24 salary: $41,000,000 (13th overall in salary)
For more on Rudy Gobert, including a scouting report and accolades, click here.
Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
At times, there’s a disparity between the raw averages and what the advanced metrics are telling us, and Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vucevic is a prime example of that. If you merely look at his numbers – 17, 11 and three assists – you might think he’s still a borderline All-Star. But his actual impact has actually been disappointing, as Chicago has been worse during his time on the floor since joining the team. That number truly cratered in 2022-23, when the Bulls were 8.1 points per 100 possessions worse when he was in the game.
On the other hand, it’s difficult to fault Vucevic entirely for that (though his three-point percentage plummeting to 33.2 percent over the past two seasons hasn’t helped), as most of the Bulls’ lineup had a negative swing rating in their first full year without starting point guard Lonzo Ball. To his credit, Vucevic still ranks as roughly a Top 50 player in the NBA according to WS/48, VORP and BPM, so he’s still clearly got plenty left in the tank. Head coach Billy Donovan and Co. are just going to have to navigate to life without Ball better in 2023-24 and get Vucevic back to being a positive-impact player.
2022-23 stats: 17.6 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 3.2 apg, 0.7 bpg, 52.0 FG% in 82 games
2023-24 salary: $18,518,519 (86th overall in salary)
For more on Nikola Vucevic, including a scouting report and accolades, click here.
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One of the best – and most hyped-up – prospects we’ve had this century, former No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama will open his rookie campaign with a ton of expectations and eyeballs watching his every move. We didn’t get to see much of him in Summer League – his debut was disappointing but he did follow that up with a good performance before the San Antonio Spurs smartly shut him down – so 2023-24 will be our first chance to study the player who some pundits labeled as the best basketball prospect ever.
Wembanyama looks like a video game create-a-player, maxed out on size and length but also possessing shooting ability, dribbling prowess and play-making chops. He’s got the chance to be a Kevin Durant with more passing on offense and a generational defender on the other end thanks to his outrageous shot-blocking chops and very quick feet… or his somewhat funky outside jumper and rail-thin frame will hurt him and we’ll all be left disappointed. Clearly, we believe we’ll see more of the former out of Wembanyama next season, though, hence why we have him ranked this highly, ahead of so many established centers in the NBA.
2023-24 salary: $12,160,632 (127th overall in salary)
For more on Victor Wembanyama, including a scouting report and accolades, click here.
Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Sharing the court with the best point guard he’s ever played with in 2022-23, Indiana Pacers big man Myles Turner posted by far the most productive season of his career, ranking fifth in nightly blocks while also shooting 37.3 percent from three. That elevation in play led to Indiana extending Turner’s contract for two years and $58 million last January after years of battling with whether or not to extend the former Texas standout or outright trade him. The Pacers have to be feeling good about their decision as Turner heads into 2023-24 as one of the league’s Top 5 centers, in our opinion. His ability to space the floor at the 5 and protect the paint on the other end makes him unique and impactful, and it’ll be fun to see how his playing relationship with Tyrese Haliburton continues to blossom next campaign.
2022-23 stats: 18.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 1.4 apg, 2.3 bpg, 54.8 FG% in 62 games
2023-24 salary: $20,975,000 (70th overall in salary)
For more on Myles Turner, including a scouting report and accolades, click here.
Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports
For full disclosure, Miami Heat All-Star Bam Adebayo finished in a tie with the next player on our list, Sacramento Kings star Domantas Sabonis, and we had to go to an undisclosed tie-breaker to break the draw, leaving with Adebayo as No. 4 and Sabonis at No. 3. The debate between the two players is actually quite interesting. Sabonis puts up better raw averages and has better advanced stats backing him, but he’s hardly tasted team success in his career while Adebayo has been the second-best player on two Heat teams that reached the Finals and another that came within one game of reaching the championship series.
Sabonis has flash but Adebayo’s defense – he can block shots but in particular, he’s a special point-stopper when it comes to switches, legitimately possessing the ability to guard 1 through 5 at a high level – is borderline unmatched by any other player. But because advanced stats struggle to take defensive impact into account, BPM, VORP and WS/48 rate Adebayo as roughly a Top 60 player, levels below where we all know he should be.
On top of that, Adebayo may not shoot threes but he can finish with aplomb around the basket, has developed a reliable off-the-dribble short midrange jumper, can dribble and bring the ball down the court and is an underrated playmaker. Adebayo does need to improve his finishing near the rim when he can’t just dunk the ball and perhaps develop a corner three-point shot (though we’re starting to believe he’ll just never launch those at this point) to hit another level.
Even so, Miami rightfully considers Adebayo a franchise cornerstone and treats him as such, both financially and in trade talks (he’s been untouchable, at least to this point).
2022-23 stats: 20.4 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.2 spg, 54.0 FG% in 75 games
2023-24 salary: $32,600,060 (37th overall in salary)
For more on Bam Adebayo, including a scouting report and accolades, click here.
Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
On the other hand, Sabonis’ counting stats last season were historically impressive, as the Kings big man became the fourth player ever to average 19/12/7 for an entire year, and he did it while shooting 61.5 percent from the floor on shot attempts with a higher degree of difficulty than most of Adebayo’s. The advanced stats also greatly favored Sabonis, as he ranked in the Top 15 in BPM and the Top 6 in VORP and WS/48 among all players.
Sabonis has an elite face-up game and is a special creator, especially for a center, and is also highly efficient in sinking his shot attempts thanks to his crispy midrange jumper, strong right shoulder and smooth finishing around the rim – he doesn’t need to dunk everything to score at a high level near the basket. He also played a major part in the Kings breaking their historical playoff drought.
On the other hand, his total lack of defense hurt Sacramento many nights, especially in the playoffs where the Kings fell in the first round to the Warriors. He shot just 49.5 percent from the floor in the postseason and was routinely outplayed, impact-wise, by Looney. (The Kings were 24.2 points per 100 possessions worse with Sabonis on the floor in the playoffs, an astronomical number.)
Even so, Sabonis is a three-time All-Star and was just named an All-NBer (3rd Team) for the first time, so even with his flaws, he’s one of the best centers in the game today. He just needs to tighten up his defense to help those around him reach that next level of team success.
2022-23 stats: 19.1 ppg, 12.3 rpg, 7.3 apg, 0.8 spg, 61.5 FG% in 79 games
2023-24 salary: $30,600,000 (44th overall in salary)
For more on Domantas Sabonis, including a scouting report and accolades, click here.
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After leading the league in scoring for the second year running, Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid finally won league MVP honors in 2022-23 following back-to-back second-place finishes, a well-earned honor, even if we don’t believe he’s the best center in the NBA today. Embiid can do it all, scoring as a post-up option or when facing up, able to shoot threes, possessing great athleticism, quickness and the skill level as a ball-handler to fully leverage those physical gifts into elite production nightly. He’s also an elite defender, especially near the rim, blocking nearly two shots nightly last season and anchoring what was a Top 8 Philadelphia defense.
All that Embiid has left to do is guide the Sixers to more team success, as the team still hasn’t gotten past the second round of the playoffs since Hall-of-Famer Allen Iverson was around. At times in the postseason, Embiid’s top-notch ability to make difficult shots actually hurts him because he settles for tough jumpers during crucial possessions that swing games more intensely than in the regular season. His propensity to turn over the ball also really comes back to haunt him in postseason play against elite defenses, as opposing teams are smart about sending last-second doubles at him when Embiid tries to drive to the basket, often leading to vital turnovers due to his sometimes shaky ball-handle in traffic.
Last year’s second-round defeat to the Celtics after the Sixers were up three games to two was particularly difficult for the star big man, as Embiid averaged just 20.0 points and shot 37.8 percent from the floor with eight total turnovers in those two potential closeout games.
Even so, Embiid ranked Top 3 league-wide in VORP, BPM and WS/48 last season and remains one of the best players in the NBA outright, center or not. We expect Embiid to remain at that high-end superstar level in 2023-24.
2022-23 stats: 33.1 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 4.2 apg, 1.7 bpg, 54.8 FG% in 66 games
2023-24 salary: $47,607,350 (3rd overall in salary)
For more on Joel Embiid, including a scouting report and accolades, click here.
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How else could we end this list – and this series – than with the best basketball player in the world today, reigning Finals MVP Nikola Jokic? Jokic may have missed out on regular-season league MVP honors in 2022-23 for the first time in three years but he made up for it by leading the Denver Nuggets to the first championship in the franchise’s history, and the first of Jokic’s career, in a playoff run that didn’t seem to flummox the big Serbian at all.
Jokic actually upped his averages in the postseason to 30.0 points, 13.5 rebounds and 9.5 assists on 54.8 percent shooting, 46.1 percent from three, over 20 games while losing only once over the final two series of his team’s championship run. No matter what defender various elite defensive teams threw at him in the playoffs, Jokic was unstoppable, hitting threes at an insane rate, refusing to miss his patented tear-drop floater shot and posting up when foes dared put a smaller defender on him.
His supporting cast stepped up in a huge way, too, but make no mistake: Jokic was the absolute catalyst to that championship.
On top of all that, Jokic – the best passing center in league history besides being a top-notch rebounder and scorer – ranked first league-wide in VORP, BPM and WS/48 last season, just like he’s done every year since 2020-21.
Simply put: Jokic is the best player in the league and at still just 28 years old, it’s hard to foresee a day when that might no longer be the case.
2022-23 stats: 24.5 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 9.8 apg, 1.3 spg, 63.2 FG% in 69 games
2023-24 salary: $47,607,350 (3rd overall in salary)
For more on Nikola Jokic, including a scouting report and accolades, click here.
Bam Adebayo, Blast, Featured, Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, Top, Basketball, NBA, Ranking
Basketball, NBA, Ranking, Bam Adebayo, Blast, Featured, Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, Top
How did international stars perform against Team USA with NBA players?
Jazz guarantee Kris Dunn’s contract for 2023-24
Live stream: Pistons 104, Mavericks 114
Main Rumors· October 23, 2023 ·
Main Rumors· October 23, 2023 ·
Main Rumors· October 23, 2023 ·
Main Rumors· October 23, 2023 ·
Main Rumors· October 23, 2023 ·
Main Rumors· October 23, 2023 ·
Main Rumors· October 23, 2023 ·
Main Rumors· October 23, 2023 ·
Main Rumors· October 23, 2023 ·
Main Rumors· October 23, 2023 ·
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