Andrew Bynum for Dwight Howard? This is the question that Lakers’ and NBA’s fans have been asking even before the beginning of this season. Some asked if a trade like this would be a fair one. A fair one? For whom? For the Lakers? When a team decides to go for a trade there is not a question of fairness, but if the team is going to get better off from the trade based on their plan. What about the Magic? Under the circumstances Magic should be looking for the best deal. Thus, if a trade like this goes on it should be considered fair. Each team gets the best under the circumstances and there are always circumstances. Don’t just trouble your mind with the ‘under normal circumstances Magic would never do that’, because there is no such a thing as normal circumstances.
However, the proposed trade contained both Pau Gasol and Bynum for Howard, which means that at least Lakers’ management considers Howard as a more valuable asset than Bynum. This is true for the Lakers, at this very moment in time and according to their strategy. But what the rest of the world thinks? Is Howard better than Bynum? I don’t what the rest of the world thinks, in fact there is a big debate going on, but Shaquille O’Neal would ‘choose Bynum over Howard’ as the best center in the NBA today.
O’Neal is one of the best centers that ever played the game, but does this make him the right man to judge today’s NBA. The truth is that O’Neal played against both of them even at the sunset of his career and as a player that played the center-position for so many years at the highest level, his opinion should at least be taken seriously. On the other hand my position — I have been a fan that follows the game as close as anyone for twenty consecutive years – is that O’Neal exactly because he played this position is biased and not an objective agent. O’Neal also has this funny, to us, thing about the ‘superman’ nickname that Howard is using ‘without O’Neal’s authorization’. It might sound silly but I believe that O’Neal is biased against Howard even for the fact that everybody compares Howard’s career to his. In my view the similarities between them start and end at the fact they were both centers, drafted by and played for Orlando Magic. O’Neal was a far more dominant player.
My argument, then, is that O’Neal prefers Bynum because he is a heavier, less athletic center that can bulldoze his way to the basket. Bynum’s game is more similar to that of the traditional center, who is covering the whole paint with his massive presence. Bynum’s game is getting closer to O’Neal’s game, even though Bynum is more elegant than O’Neal ever was. But Bynum is far from reaching O’Neal’s dominance in the paint. I do not believe that Bynum will ever play at O’Neal’s level; do not forget that O’Neal played against some of the best centers ever. But O’Neal’s period of dominance came after the 90s, when the real battle in the middle was taking place.
My opinion is that Bynum is not better than Howard. He is bigger than Howard and can play with his back on the basket, but Howard dominates the game in a totally different way. In fact Howard is the only center in today’s game that is actually able to dominate. He is as good as and even better than Bynum in scoring close to the basket. Howard has a higher scoring average, (see following table) but he does not play alongside Kobe Bryant. This means more time with the ball in his hands but also more double and triple teams. Howard is a better rebounder and when it comes to defence there is no comparison. Howard is probably the best defender in the game today, definitely the best defensive center.
| Dwight Howard | VS | Andrew Bynum |
| 38.4** | MP | 34.8 |
| 7.6*** | FG | 6.6 |
| 13.4 | FGA | 12.2 |
| 56.5** | FG% | 54.3*** |
| 3.5 | ORB | 3.5 |
| 12.0 | DRB | 9.1 |
| 15.5* | TRB | 12.6** |
| 2.0 | AST | 1.3 |
| 1.5**** | STL | 0.5 |
| 2.1** | BLK | 2.1*** |
| 3.1 | PF | 2.2 |
| 20.9**** | PTS | 16.5 |
* 1st NBA, ** Top-5 NBA, *** Top-10 NBA, **** Top-20 NBA
I believe that it is good that the NBA has again two centers, which are or have the potential to be the stars in their teams. It is good to be able to watch again battles in the middle. Today’s game is mostly a guard’s game and basketball was always a big-man’s game. Every basketball fan likes to watch battles in the middle. The encouraging thing is that there are not just these two centers, even if they have been monopolizing the attention. There is a number of young centers that quietly but steadily make their presence felt.
Al Jefferson, Al Horford, Mark Gasol, Roy Hibbert, Tyson Chandler, Nene Hilario, Brooks Lopez, Andrea Bargnani, Andrew Bogut, Emeka Okafor, DeAndre Jordan, Javale McGee, Joakim Noah, Nicola Pekovic and DeMarcus Cousins are a number of experienced and promising centers that alongside Howard and Bynum are the best centers in the league. Of course from all these centers only a handful seems to able to play at a level similar to that of Howard or Bynum.
My choices for future all-stars are Al Jefferson, Mark Gasol, Roy Hibbert, Brooks Lopez and DeMarcus Cousins – Mark Gasol and Roy Hibbert have already been selected for 2012 all-star game. But when it comes to who of them can dominate and be the foundation of a franchise I can only think, with some reservations, of Al Jefferson. I would also keep an eye on Nikola Pekovic, a player that I remember since he was playing for Panathinaikos and was the best center in Europe the year Panathinaikos won the Euroleague in 2009. DeMarcus Cousins as well is a risk-choice as he has the talent and the size but he lacks the necessary discipline that the NBA game demands.
The things that make Al Jefferson the best candidate to be a franchise-player is: (a) the fact that he did it for two years in Minesota, even if the team was not a winning-one, where he averaged; 21ppg and 11.1rpg in 2007-08; and 23.1ppg and 11rpg in 2008-09, and (b) his footwork is the best that a player of his size has in today’s NBA, I could in that aspect of the game compare him with the Hakeem ‘the Dream’ Olajuwon; just compare him. He is still playing at an all-star level but the 2008-09 injury slowed him down.
To sum up, with Howard being the obvious number one in my ranking, Bynum number two, I consider Jefferson to be the third center in today’s NBA. I also consider Jefferson and Bynum the only two centers that can become franchise-players. To continue my ranking I would put Mark Gasol in number four – he has the size and the moves of the traditional big-man-center – and Tyson Chandler, because of his defensive presence and his overall impact on his team, in number five. The top-ten that follows is a product of a lot of thought as it is really difficult to distinguish and pick among today’s centers that hold mostly role-playing positions in their teams.
Top-10 Centers in Today’s NBA
1) Dwight Howard
2) Andrew Bynum
3) Al Jefferson
4) Mark Gasol
5) Tyson Chandler
6) Al Horford (although he is more of a power forward)
7) Roy Hibbert
8) Brook Lopez (if he improves rebounding, a lot, he is top-5)
9) DeMarcus Cousins (great future in the NBA if he accepts its rules)
10) Andrew Bogut
NBA All Time 