Ranking the top 5 centers in the Eastern Conference ahead of the 2021-22 NBA season

We know that the 2021-22 NBA season isn’t much further away since pre-season games are already underway. Fans would now be keenly anticipating the start of the regular season on October 19, given that there has been no NBA action for approximately the last three months.

As part of our countdown to the start of the 75th NBA season, we are ranking the best players across positions in the Eastern and Western Conferences. We have already ranked the top five point guards, shooting guards, small forwards and power forwards in the two conferences. We now turn our attention to the five best players at the center position in the Eastern Conference.

#5 Myles Turner (Indiana Pacers)

Myles Turner of the Indiana Pacers led the league in blocks per game last season

Jarrett Allen (12.8 ppg, 10.0 rpg and 61.8% field goal shooting in 2020-21) of the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Milwaukee Bucks’ Brook Lopez (12.3 ppg, 50.3% field goal shooting in the same period) were also considered for this spot. But Turner edged them both because of his superior rim-protecting ability. Turner led the NBA in blocks-per-game last season (3.4 bpg). He also averaged 12.6 ppg and 6.5 rpg while shooting a respectable 33.5% from downtown.

The big challenge for Turner is how he coexists with teammate and power forward Domantas Sabonis on the floor. Sabonis could be a center in his own right, but for now, he is ranked among the power forwards. Sabonis outrebounds (12.0 rpg to 6.5 rpg in 2020-21) Turner and outscores him (20.3 ppg to 12.6 ppg) too.

Either Turner accepts this role where he is more of a defensive shot-blocker or has a breakthrough 2021-22 NBA season where he establishes himself as a dominant scoring big man.

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#4 Clint Capela (Atlanta Hawks)

Clint Capela recently signed an extension with the Atlanta Hawks

Clint Capela proved his value once again to the second NBA team he has been associated with. After playing six seasons with the Houston Rockets, where he was a key player, Capela contributed 15.2 ppg and a league-best 14.3 rpg to the Atlanta Hawks in his very first season with the team in 2020-21.

Tasked with guarding Joel Embiid in Atlanta’s conference semifinals matchup with Philadelphia in the 2021 Playoffs, Capela also did a fairly decent job of limiting Embiid to 47% shooting from the floor compared to the center’s 51.3% field goal efficiency in the regular season.

While Capela is a great rebounding center (also dominant on the offensive board and led the league in 2020-21), he does not spread the floor. He has attempted just two three-point shots in his seven-year NBA career. He is also a poor free throw shooter, averaging just 53.4% from the charity stripe over his seven-year NBA career.

However, the fact that he is extremely efficient in pick-and-roll situations and can also be used very effectively as a screen setter establishes his high value for any team that he plays for.

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#3 Nikola Vucevic (Chicago Bulls)

Nikola Vucevic will hope to make a deep playoff run with the Chicago Bulls

Vucevic is a modern NBA center, who averaged a career-best 23.4 ppg in 2020-21 and also had his best season from behind the arc where he made his shots with an efficiency rate of 40%. It is exactly the kind of performance that has made Vucevic an All-Star in two of his last three NBA seasons. That he also averages 10.4 rpg over the course of his 10-year NBA career proves that Vucevic is a consistent double-double machine.

Having been traded by the Orlando Magic to the Bulls in March 2021, Vucevic will be part of a formidable Chicago unit that also features Zach LaVine and new offseason additions DeMar DeRozan and Lonzo Ball for the 2021-22 NBA season. If the group can get Chicago to make a deep playoff run, Vucevic would perhaps value that success a lot more since he has never made it past the first round of the NBA playoffs.

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#2 Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat)

Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat will hope to have a strong showing in 2021-22 Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers is the best big man in the East

One was hoping for a stronger showing from Bam Adebayo in 2020-21 after the Miami Heat center’s first All-Star appearance in 2019-20. And although Adebayo averaged a robust 18.7 ppg, 9.0 rpg and 5.4 apg, while shooting 57.0% from the floor in the last NBA season, the Heat star did disappoint to some extent.

A first-round playoff exit for the Heat at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks, where Adebayo simply had no answer for a rampaging Giannis Antetokounmpo, also contributed to the disappointment.

But a new NBA season brings with it new opportunities and new expectations. Bolstered by the additions of Kyle Lowry, PJ Tucker and Markieff Morris, Adebayo will have a lot more help while playing alongside talented stars like Jimmy Butler and Victor Oladipo.

If he can anchor the Heat’s defense and be dominant in the paint, the Heat will have a good chance of representing the East in the 2022 NBA Finals.

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#1 Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers)

Embiid would probably be rated as the best center in the NBA had he picked up the 2020-21 regular season MVP award. However, a knee injury limited him to just 51 games, which is why Nikola Jokic walked away with the honor.

Nonetheless, Embiid posted career-best numbers for Philadelphia in 2020-21 in scoring (28.5 ppg), field-goal shooting (51.3%) and three-point shooting (37.7%). He also averaged 10.6 rpg, which means that he has been putting up a double-double (across points and rebounds) for four straight seasons.

The focus now for Embiid will be dealing with the Ben Simmons situation in Philadelphia. If Simmons leaves the franchise, the onus will be on Embiid to carry the team to the 2022 Playoffs with a strong regular season showing. If, however, Simmons does decide to stay on in Philly, Embiid will have to make it work with the disgruntled point guard and make him believe that together the pair can achieve great things.