Cleveland Cavaliers: Where Kevin Love ranks among other starting centers
#18 – Brook Lopez – Milwaukee Bucks
What an incredible transformation Brook Lopez has made to his game. Through his first eight NBA seasons, despite being an excellent scorer, the most three-point attempts per game he had was 0.2 per Basketball-Reference.
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Last season, his eleventh, he attempted 6.3 three-pointers per game and he nailed 2.3 for a very respectable 36.5% per Basketball-Reference.
Lopez slides down on the rankings due to the fact that he is a legit seven-footer who averaged 4.9 rebounds per game last season (Basketball-Reference).
He is also a pretty big liability defensively. The Bucks will need him to continue to knock down triples next season in order for them to accomplish their goal of an NBA championship.
#17 – Bam Adebayo – Miami Heat
The Miami Heat are expecting Bam Adebayo to take a major leap this season. Adebayo took a mini leap this past season but he was also competing for minutes with Whiteside, so it is certainly possible he takes another step forward in his progression.
His per-36 minutes rose last season, per Basketball-Reference, to 13.7 points and 11.2 rebounds.
With the addition of Jimmy Butler, the Heat will be looking to make a push in the Eastern Conference. Adebayo, especially with his rebounding and defensive ability (104 defensive rating per Basketball-Reference) will be a major key in helping them jump up the conference power rankings.
#16 – Enes Kanter – Boston Celtics
Enes Kanter would be higher on the rankings if he could play even a little bit of defense. He is one of the best offensive centers in the league.
Per Basketball-Reference, last season Kanter scored 21.2 points per 36 minutes of floor time.
The Celtics did very well this offseason to replace Kyrie Irving with Kemba Walker. They also had to replace Al Horford with Kanter. Kanter is nowhere near the defensive player Horford is, but Kanter will likely be a more consistent scorer.
Boston will need for Kanter to be very good from a defensive standpoint because they are very thin upfront.