NBA Centers (Part 1)

[George O'Brien]

One of the problems facting the Suns is that the quality of centers in the NBA is actually pretty poor. Think about the 1980's when guys like Kareem, Hakeem, Moses, Ewing, Sampson, Parrish, etc. were dominating the game. Second tier guys like Duckworth would be considered super stars if they played today.

Today, after Shaq and Yao, the best big men are all power forwards. There are some good ones, but I'm not sure they are better than middle tier guys of the 80's. Too much drafting teenagers and three point shooting has led to a huge decline in center play. When we look to trade for a center the options are not much better than the overpriced guys the Suns passed over in July.

Here is a quick rundown of who is out there, updated from a brief attemtp a month or so ago.

ATLANTA:

Walker - $14,6 million (one year)
Collier - $1.5 million (two years)

Walker is on his third team in three years, with his expiring contract worth more than his on court performance.

Collier was cut by the Rockets. He actually played "OK" for the Hawks late in the season. He is not very good yet may end up starting.

BOSTON

Blount - $4.9 million (seven years)
LaFrentz - $9.1 million (five years)

Mark Blount may have been the bargain of the summer, but he is 28 years old and a career backup. Boston re-signing him was one of the upsets of the summer. He will not be traded.

LaFrentz was injured most of last year. He is a good shot blocker and a great outside shooter, but is not very good on defense. I look for them to use him more at PF with Blount at center. In any case, he has a very long, ugly contract which is a huge risk with his injury history.

CHARLOTTE

White - $5.9 million (One year)
Drobnijk - $2.6 million (Three years)

White may actually be the Bobcats starting center after averaging only 13 minutes a game in Phoenix. The Suns could not trade for him even if they wanted to.

Drobnijk is the third string center for the Serbian team. He has never been effective.

CHICAGO

Curry - $3.8 million (two years - RFA next year)
Chandler - $4.8 million (two years - RFA next year)
Davis - $12 million (two years)
Mutombo - $4.5 million (one year)
Trybanski - $1.7 million (one year)

Curry may be on the market since he is not in shape. His main skills is scoring in the low block, but is not good on defense and marginal on the boards.

Chandler has had injury problems that have limited his effectiveness. He is not considered to be strong enough to play center but is tall and athletic. Most reports are that he is off the market unless someone is wiling to take Eddie Robinson in the deal.

Davis is a solid but aging center who is not worth even close to the $12 million he is getting.

Mutombo has an expiring contract which was worth more than his on court performance. He is too slow and has no offensive skills.

Trybanski is likely to be cut. He has never proven he is able to play in the NBA.

CLEVELAND

Illauskas - $14.6 million (one year)
Diop - $2.7 million (two years - next year RFA)
Hunter - $? (one year)
Traylor - $1.6 million (two years)

Illauskas is a great offensive player who has struggled on defense. The Cavs have reportedly turned down several offers and hope to re-sign him next year. Best guess is that if he is traded, it will be mid season.

Diop has never been in good enough condition to be be productive. He gets one last chance this season or else he will be gone.

Hunter came in the deal with the Magic. Rumor is that he may get cut.

Traylor just signed and will be the Cavs primary backup at both center and PF.

DALLAS

Booth - $5.9 million (three years)
Laettner - $6.1 million (one year)
Ilunga-Mbenga - $1.6 million (two years)
Bradley - $4 million (four years)

Booth just came over to the Mavs from Seattle where he was not very effective.

Laettner has been a career underachiever and lockerroom poison. None the less, he is likely to get minutes on the Mavs

Ilunga-Mbenga is a shot blocking project.

Bradley has watched his minutes drop over the last few years. He is undoubtedly "available" but his contract length is not attractive.

DENVER

Camby - $6.5 million (six years)
Nene - $2.4 million (three years)
Tskitishvili - $2.9 million (three years)
Elson - $620,000 (on year)

Camby just signed a long term deal. Supposedly part of the money is based on incentives geared to him being healthy. If healthy, he is not going to be traded.

Nene is going to be coming off the bench this season following the acquisition of Martin. It is not impossible that he would get traded, but highly unlikely.

Tskitishvili is definitely on the market and there are some teams that are interested. This is based entirely on physical talent because he has not done much in two years.

Elson was protected by the Nuggets during the expansion draft. After the team lost Chris Anderson, Elson's minutes are expected to increase.

 

[samtheman]

DENVER

Camby - $6.5 million (six years)
Nene - $2.4 million (three years)
Tskitishvili - $2.9 million (three years)
Elson - $620,000 (on year)

Tskitishvili is not a center.

 

[George O'Brien]

Tskitishvili is not a center.

I'm not sure he is even an NBA player.

Reports are that he bulked up to 260 pounds, but was never even tried at center since the Nuggets had Elson and Doleac. Since he doesn't play, it is hard to tell what position it is that he isn't playing.

 

[georgesucks7]

GEorge you are a geek with to much time on your hands

 

[SweetD]

Cool thanks George

 

[Yuma]

I've been thinking about the quality of NBA centers also. You could argue Jake and Lampe are as good as any other duo for half of the Western Conference. They are as good as half the center combinations, and in ranking they are worse3 than half the duos. That said, we kick as as far as SF, PF, SG, and PG. So do we really NEED to trade assests fromn SF, or SG to get a journeyman center? I say no. While I am skeptical on the development of Jake, the jury is out on Lampe. I say we add a journeyman center for depth and see where our draft picks take us in the future. At a minimum, the trade scene will change, also.

 

[NJYAJ09]

I've been thinking about the quality of NBA centers also. You could argue Jake and Lampe are as good as any other duo for half of the Western Conference. They are as good as half the center combinations, and in ranking they are worse3 than half the duos. That said, we kick as as far as SF, PF, SG, and PG. So do we really NEED to trade assests fromn SF, or SG to get a journeyman center? I say no. While I am skeptical on the development of Jake, the jury is out on Lampe. I say we add a journeyman center for depth and see where our draft picks take us in the future. At a minimum, the trade scene will change, also.

Who would you rather have: Darko, Lampe, Bosh or Tskitishvilli?

 

[Joe Mama]

Who would you rather have: Darko, Lampe, Bosh or Tskitishvilli?

Darko. He hasn't shown much yet, but he has the most potential. He has something like 7-0 with a wingspan of something like 7-4 very good athleticism. If he had played for a team like the Phoenix Suns that gives a lot of time to their rookies he probably would have had a nice season.

I also like Bosh.

Joe Mama

 

[George O'Brien]

Darko. He hasn't shown much yet, but he has the most potential. He has something like 7-0 with a wingspan of something like 7-4 very good athleticism. If he had played for a team like the Phoenix Suns that gives a lot of time to their rookies he probably would have had a nice season.

I also like Bosh.

Joe Mama

Bosh has proven he can play. He's not available, but I really like his game.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Darko. He hasn't shown much yet, but he has the most potential. He has something like 7-0 with a wingspan of something like 7-4 very good athleticism. If he had played for a team like the Phoenix Suns that gives a lot of time to their rookies he probably would have had a nice season.

I also like Bosh.

Joe Mama

Couldn't agree more. Although I am not as high on Bosh as other people for some reason.

 

[Joe Mama]

Actually I looked up Darko's draft measurements. At that time he was 7' 3/4" in shoes and with a 7'5" wingspan. His standing reach was 9' 3 1/2". He was also just barely 18 years old.

Joe Mama

 

[Yuma]

Darko also has NO offense right now, and has shown to be MORE of a defensive liability than any of the guys mentioned. Lampe, as much as we know he's not ready, looked light years ahead of Darko. Darko may be good in the future, but his contract with Detroit may be over when that happens, too. At this point, I think Lampe is less risk, even though he may have less upside.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Darko also has NO offense right now, and has shown to be MORE of a defensive liability than any of the guys mentioned.

I would LOVE to know where you got this from. I mean if you got to watch Darko enough to even have a handle on how he stands, I hope you share where we all can watch!

 

[Yuma]

I would LOVE to know where you got this from. I mean if you got to watch Darko enough to even have a handle on how he stands, I hope you share where we all can watch!

It's called NBA Ticket on DirecTV. He didn't play in every game. What disappointed me is he came in late in blow outs, and couldn't do anything on the other team's third stringers in mop up time. Even Lampe does something against other teams second team guys. I watched a lot of Detroit games this last year. It took a lot to see Darko play at all.