Top 5 centers to look out for this NBA season

Center DeAndre Jordan attempting to block Dwight Howard’s dunkThe position of the center is usually filled by the biggest man on the team, and he needs to be extremely strong too because things often get quite physical under the rim. While major responsibilities include winning the jump-ball along with blocking, rebounding and cleaning up offensive mistakes, today’s NBA centers have also started focusing on their outside shots along with a greater post-up game to best use their position offensively.We count down to the five most promising big men in the league this season who will try and fill the shoes of legendary centers like Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain.

#5 DeAndre Jordan

Jordan along with Blake Griffin truly makes the Clippers ‘Lob City’. The high-flying giant returns to the Clippers after a very interesting off-season. Jordan led the NBA last season in Rebounds (15 per game) and Field Goal Percentage (71%).

He clearly has an incredible defensive game but Jordan’s offense is extremely limited to alley-oops, put-backs, dunks and tip-ins. That is primarily the reason that he ranks first in field goal percentage since he doesn’t really have a post up game or mid-range shot. He’s an abysmal free throw shooter and often becomes an offensive liability to his team when the opponents go for the Hack-a-Shaq strategy.

He’s still a lot of fun to watch on the court because he plays with a great attitude and gives us a lot of highlight plays with the help of Blake Griffin and Chris Paul; both of them being amazing passers. If Jordan can get his free throw percentage to a respectable range and make his offensive game a little more versatile, he could potentially join the best Centers of all time.