Cleveland Cavaliers: Where Kevin Love ranks among other starting centers

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Charlotte Hornets’ Cody Zeller (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images). /

#30 – Dewayne Dedmon – Sacramento Kings

The Sacramento Kings signed veteran big man Dewayne Dedmon in free agency this season to man their starting center position. Dedmon is a legit seven-footer who has been a solid rebounder throughout his career.

According to Basketball-Reference, Dedmon has averaged 11.9 rebounds per game per 36 minutes.

As is the case with the majority of the rest of the NBA, Dedmon has also expanded his range. Also according to Basketball-Reference, Dedmon attempted a career-high 3.4 three-point attempts per game last season, nailing 1.3 per game which translates to a very solid 38.2%.

The Kings are expected to take a jump this season with budding All-Star in De’Aaron Fox, a sharpshooting off-guard in Buddy Hield, and a young potential All-Star at power forward in Marvin Bagley III. Dedmon will be a player who will need to be a defensive anchor and offensive rebounder to help the Kings compete for a playoff spot in a tough Western Conference.

#29 – Alex Len – Atlanta Hawks

Dedmon’s former teammate Alex Len checks in one spot ahead of him. Len showed at times last season that he perhaps turned the corner in reaching his potential after being a top-five draft pick.

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Len’s strength is on the offensive end. He’s a player that can score on the low block and as of last season, is a player that can stretch the floor to the three-point line.

Per Basketball-Reference, last season, Len attempted a career-high 2.6 three-point attempts per game, knocking in 1 per game for a very solid 36.3%.

Len is a disappointing rebounder for his size. Per Basketball-Reference, he has only averaged 6.3 rebounds per game for his career.

Len likely won’t see a lot of court time this year as the Hawks will likely play a lot of small ball. They have young talent galore on the roster with Trae Young, Kevin Huerter, Cam Reddish, De’Andre Hunter, and John Collins.

The Hawks will look to make a push towards the playoffs in a wide-open Eastern Conference this season.

#28 – Cody Zeller – Charlotte Hornets

The center position for the Charlotte Hornets, despite using multiple first-round picks over the last few years on centers, has been a revolving door.

The Hornets will likely be in contention for the number one pick in the 2020 NBA Draft next summer also. Cody Zeller will be the likely starter in the middle for Charlotte and he has been a pretty big disappointment to this point in the season.

The former fourth overall pick has career per-game averages, per Basketball-Reference of 8.2 points and 5.8 rebounds.

Zeller will likely improve those career numbers out of necessity for the Hornets, but his impact in the win-loss column will be minimal for a bad Hornets team.