Power ranking the top 10 centers at the start of the 2024/25 NBA season

There was a period in recent NBA history where it seemed like the importance of the center position was being phased out of the game entirely. That has since shifted, as the focus on the tallest players on the court has once again been revived. We’ll rank the top 10 centers in the NBA as the new season gets underway. All statistics are sourced from Basketball Reference.

There are few players in the NBA who have improved as much as Sengun has in his first three seasons. The well-rounded skill set has always been apparent, but Houston’s center blossomed into a player averaging over 21 points, nine rebounds and five assists per game in 2023-2024. The NBA’s website reported that the Rockets signed him to a five-year, $185 million extension on the eve of the season.

With that said, there’s a narrative floating around that the Rockets might actually be a better team without Sengun. He went down with a season-ending ankle injury in March, and Houston went 12-6 without him the rest of the way to sneak back into play-in tournament contention. It’s a small sample size, but this dynamic will be something to watch for in the early going this season.

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Opinions about just how good Gobert seems to be all over the map. Sporting News wrote in October 2024 that Gobert is the league’s most polarizing player. With that said, it’s hard to question the impact he has on the defensive end of the floor, as a four-time winner of the league’s Defensive Player of the Year award.

Remarkably, Gobert has only led the NBA in blocks one time in his career, all the way back in 2016-2017. The 2.6 rejections he logged that season were a career-high, and with added opportunity this year, he might have a chance to repeat that figure. He’ll be the primary rim protector for the Timberwolves, as the team traded big man Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks in late September.

What’s old is new again for Holmgren and the Thunder. Oklahoma City signed center Isaiah Hartenstein in the offseason, but he’s set to miss the first five to six weeks of the NBA season with a hand injury. This means that Holmgren will slide back into his role as the main five man for the team, which may not be a bad thing.

After missing his entire first professional season, Holmgren impressively suited up for all 82 regular season games in 2023-2024. He was a force on both ends of the floor, posting 2.3 blocks per game and shooting 37 percent from three point range. While he may play less center and more power forward once Hartenstein returns, Holmgren remains the Thunder’s most prolific paint protector.

There can be a lot of pressure being the son of a former NBA player, but Sabonis has already accomplished more than his father Arvydas ever did in the league. He’s still just 28 years old, and is in the prime of what has turned into a superb career. The three-time All-Star features the same savvy passing ability his father once did.

Sabonis has also led the NBA in rebounding for two consecutive seasons. NBC Sports Bay Area noted that the Kings star became just the seventh player in league history to record 77 double-doubles in a season during the 2023-2024 campaign. His remarkable consistency allows Sacramento to plan for what they’ll get from their five men each and every night.

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Adebayo views himself as a jack of all trades. He told Sports Illustrated in August 2024, “I don’t really put myself in a box, I’ve got to play the four, I’ve got to play the five. You go game by game.” With that said, Miami has relied on Adebayo to hold down the fort in the paint for the last several years, often without much help. He’s risen to the challenge.

Adebayo isn’t the towering presence that some NBA centers are. He “only” stands at 6’9”, which often gives him a size disadvantage against the behemoths of the league. With that said, his stature and lateral quickness allow him to stay close to smaller players away from the rim, which makes him even more valuable. In 2020, ABC News called him the perfect center for the modern NBA.

Towns slid over to power forward during his final two seasons in Minnesota, as Rudy Gobert manned the middle. However, the former number one overall pick will be the Knicks’ primary center, and New York needs him to excel in that role once again. There’s no questioning how lethal he his as a scorer; Towns can light it up from the post and from long distance.

After playing the first nine seasons of his career in a small market, it’ll be fascinating to see how Towns fares in the bright lights of New York. The franchise has pushed all of their chips into the middle of the table, and is betting on Towns to be a difference maker that gets the team back to the NBA Finals.

After years of rebuffing the notion of playing center on a fulltime basis, Davis has been forced into manning the five for the Lakers. While he’s pretty good at it, he still doesn’t enjoy the idea. ESPN reported that Davis still wants to play with someone who can assume the traditional defensive responsibilities that the position demands.

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Even though he has resisted the idea of being a five, Davis has been fantastic in the role. The biggest question following him throughout his career has been his ability to stay on the floor. Los Angeles was fortunate to have Davis available for 76 regular season contests in 2023-2024, and is hopeful they’ll have him at a similar clip this year.

Embiid sat down with the New York Times in July 2024, and told the outlet that he believes he could have been one of the best players in NBA history if not for unfortunate setbacks at the worst points of the year. While that seems like a stretch now, the potential for Embiid to take the game by force on any given night is something opponents have feared whenever he’s been healthy.

However, there seems like a good chance fans will see less of Embiid in the years to come. He told ESPN in October 2024, “If I had to guess, I would probably never play back to back games the rest of my career.” If that turns out to be the case, it’s a huge setback for Philadelphia in their attempt to build enough chemistry to make a playoff run.

It might be a little premature to place Wembanyama this high after just one NBA season. With that said, the historic caliber at which San Antonio’s young star performed at as a rookie is impossible to ignore. He continued to show why he is so special during the 2024 Olympics, helping to lead France to the silver medal as a 20-year-old.

It’s hard to come up with the right words to describe just how impactful Wembanyama can be moving forward. While his physical talents are undeniable, he also has a keen basketball mind. Tom Haberstroh of Yahoo Sports wrote in May 2024, “He studies the game with precision and attention to detail like an academic scholar.”

TNT’s Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith revealed their list of top NBA players ahead of the 2024-2025 season, and Jokic topped the list. In January 2024, Sporting News called him one of the most dominant offensive players we’ve ever seen. Jokic sees the floor in a way that few ever have.

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Watching Jokic is a thing of beauty. He doesn’t possess the athletic gifts that many of the other players on this list have. He plays the game at his own speed, and manages to get to his spot almost every single time. One of the best things you can say about a player is that he makes his teammates better, and Jokic undeniably accomplishes that.