Fantasy Positional Rankings: Centers

The center position is often considered the thinnest position. Possibly because most leagues require you to start at least two centers, or maybe it's because once you get past the first 12 or 15 centers you start seeing players queued up who have some serious deficiencies in their game. The one saving grace is that many of the league's top power forwards are also eligible at center.

You'll often hear guys strategize about getting out of the draft with a few centers who can rebound, block shots, and shoot a high percentage from the field while doing limited damage to their team's free-throw percentage. That's not so easy to do, however. The strategy here is to find a center who has limited free-throw attempts. If you're drafting Dwight Howard you have to be careful of his 59.4 FT% since he gets to the line 10.8 times per game. On the other hand Andris Biedrins' 55.1 FT% is manageable because he got to the line just 3.5 times per game last season.

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The following rankings are based on a standard 8-category, head-to-head (H2H) scoring system: points, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals, three-pointers, field-goal percentage, and free-throw percentage. Many of the players below have multiple eligibility, but for this exercise as long as they're center-eligible, per Fleaflicker, they meet the criteria for making the list.

1. Dwight Howard
2. Amar'e Stoudemire
3. Pau Gasol
4. Chris Bosh
5. Al Jefferson
6. Brook Lopez
7. Troy Murphy
8. Tim Duncan
9. David Lee
10. Andris Biedrins
11. Elton Brand
12. Andrea Bargnani
13. Emeka Okafor
14. Al Horford
15. Luis Scola
16. Mehmet Okur
17. Nene Hilario
18. Marcus Camby
19. Andrew Bynum
20. Spencer Hawes
21. Channing Frye
22. Zach Randolph
23. Marc Gasol
24. Rasheed Wallace
25. Andrew Bogut
26. Greg Oden
27. Kendrick Perkins
28. Brendan Haywood
29. Joakim Noah
30. Chris Kaman
31. Chris Andersen
32. Tyson Chandler
33. Shaquille O'Neal
34. Anderson Varejao
35. Kevin Love
36. Ronny Turiaf
37. Brad Miller
38. Samuel Dalembert
39. Drew Gooden
40. Roy Hibbert
41. Chris Wilcox
42. Nenad Krstic
43. Zyrdrunas Ilgauskas
44. Darko Milicic
45. Joel Przybilla

- If you're playing in a roto league you obviously have to be cautious of Dwight Howard's free-throw shooting. It's not enough that he shoots poorly from the line, but the fact that he was one of only two players to shoot more than 10 free-throw attempts per game adds insult to injury. In an 8-category, H2H format he is one of the five or six best players. Remembering that you only have to win five categories each week, Howard puts you in position to win three or four of them outright.

- Brook Lopez took a major leap in his rookie season. Reasonable per-game projections for Lopez are 16 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks, 50 percent from the field, and 80 percent from the free-throw line. He could be the next stud finesse big man.

- I'm a bit more cautious with Troy Murphy than others. There's just something about his '08-'09 season that screams "career year" to me. You may be braver than I am, but that doesn't mean I don't think he's worth an early third-round pick.

- Andrea Bargnani and Rasheed Wallace were the only two centers to average more than one three-pointer and one block per game last season. While Wallace is on the downside of his career, look for Bargnani to continue his success from inside the paint and beyond the arc.

- Mehmet Okur might ultimately see his minutes and touches drop until the Carlos Boozer-Paul Millsap situation gets figured out. If you're looking for a cheaper version of a spot-shooting center, look at Channing Frye. He's got the opportunity to play now that Robin Lopez is injured and has shown great range early on in the preseason.

- Greg Oden has been a monster in the preseason through the first three games: 15.0 points, 9.7 rebounds, 0.7 blocks, 51.9 percent from the field, 81 percent from the line on 21 attempts, and just 2.7 fouls. Still not sold on him being a legit second center, but if you already have two centers I have no problem with taking a late-round flier on him.

- Marc Gasol is a valuable option as a third center if you're looking for rebounds, blocks, and FG%. Don't let the presence of Zach Randolph in Memphis scare you away from drafting Gasol. He's falling into the 13th round. I'll take that kind of value.

- Chris Andersen has the ability to come off the bench and still finish in the Top 5 in the league in blocks. Keep that in mind if you're chasing blocks late in the draft.

- Be careful with Andrew Bogut. While he may be an intriguing talent, it's tough to bite on the injury-prone big man in the seventh round. Even if he's been doing Pilates all summer long.

- I might feel more comfortable drafting Anderson Varejao than the other two centers in Cleveland: Shaquille O'Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Varejao may be the only one of the three to average more than 30 minutes per game and play in more than 70 games this season.

- Luis Scola might be my favorite "second center" in the game. He's capable of a nightly double-double, possibly topping 16 and 11 with a shooting percentage in the mid- to low-50s.

- Kevin Love broke his his non-shooting hand and is out up to six weeks. I had Love lined up to have a David Lee type of season, possibly finishing in the Top 3-5 in rebounding. Now it seems that I have to reevaluate my take on Kevin Love. He still gets the nod on my bench, if I have the room. I'm expecting him to come back mid-December and contribute big time on the boards. If you have an open bench spot and can sit on him, you might want to look at Love in the late rounds. Then again, it was songwriter Frederick Knight who penned, "You see I, I don't want to be hurt by [L]ove again ... So don't give me the world today, and tomorrow take it away." Thanks for the fantasy advice, Mr. Knight.

If you have any fantasy hoops questions you can send them my way on Twitter: @RotoLorenzo