When healthy, Is Oden a Top 5 Center in the NBA?

[Fico King]

I have a question. We know Oden will be able to play again, but what kind of movement will he have? Will he still be explosive? I'm not a knee injury expert.

[TrueMambaV]

At this point in his career, Tim Duncan has to be considered a center...

1) Howard
2) Duncan
3) Yao
4) Bynum
5) Brook Lopez
6) Bogut
7) Kaman
8) Marc Gasol
9) Nene
10) Noah

Lots of guys like Noah, Horford, etc are PF's playing center while others like Tyson Chandler
who might make the US world team and others like Robin Lopez, Kendrick Perkins are solid
players. Demarcus Cousins will probably be a top 10 center by the end of the season.

Way to underrate Yao, Bogut, and Oden and Way to overrate Dwight Howard.

[J-RITZ]

Sorry but bynum is far from a top 5 center.

[Tommy Sneakers]

Sorry but bynum is far from a top 5 center.

When hes healthy he is. Its only fair to assume everyone is healthy if we are assuming Oden is healthy.

[farzi]

I have a question. We know Oden will be able to play again, but what kind of movement will he have? Will he still be explosive? I'm not a knee injury expert.

According to the litany of doctors that were on the radio and TV right after the injury happened, it's supposed to make the bone itself stronger (?) and has absolutely no long term effects once fully healed unless the tendon is ruptured (happened to Przybilla but not Oden)

[OscarusPrime32]

If everyone is healthy, I would put Oden in the top group of centers with Dwight, Yao, Bogut, and Bynum. As long as he can get in basketball shape, and cut down on his fouls, there is no reason for Oden to not be up there.

[SabasRevenge!]

So assuming all healthy Noah is better than Oden? That my friend, is false.

This is 100% correct.

Remember the game where Oden and Noah were set to square off last year? Both players had been blowing up a bit and Noah was VERY motivated to say the least.

What happened?

Oden scored 24 points on eight field goal attempts, had 12 rebounds (six offensive) and two blocks in 27 minutes as the Blazers won by 24. I was at that game and to say Oden destroyed Noah would be an understatement. Noah was so frustrated that he got a T'd up. Oden got position, dunked, got position, dunked, got position, dunked, grabbed rebounds over and around him, and absolutely physically dominated Noah all game. Joakim had one dunk over Oden and freaked out even though he was being eaten alive.

When Oden is playing well, the rest of the team falls into place.

I have a question. We know Oden will be able to play again, but what kind of movement will he have? Will he still be explosive? I'm not a knee injury expert.

Bynum had the same injury and he's fine.

Sorry but bynum is far from a top 5 center.

I think Bynum is a top five center, but he's not consistent enough to cement his place there. Bogut should be an all-star next year, he's top five. Healthy Yao is top five. Nene is underrated, especially when he's healthy and motivated. He could score a bunch more if he wanted to. Chandler's been playing his ass off and is really great defensively when healthy. Brook Lopez got overrated from putting up big numbers on a team where nobody else could score, but he's a solid talent. Marc Gasol is overrated, though he takes up a bunch of space and has nice range.

Barring Oden, I would rank the centers as follows:

Howard
Yao
Bogut
Bynum
Nene
Kaman
Lopez
Gasol
Perkins
Chandler/Noah

If Oden is healthy next year, he's #3 and possibly higher by year's end.

(Pau and Duncan are top 4 if considered centers)

Notice that the top four players on that list (and Oden) are all good two way players. They have weaknesses on either end, but are good both offensively and defensively. The same could be argued for the next tier (Nene/Kaman/Gasol/Lopez), but it's not automatic. The last few (Perkins/Chandler/Noah) are very good at what they do but limited offensively.

[Walton'sBeard!]

I think an underlying factor here is that big men are rarely healthy. If you are building a team's success around a big man you will likely be let down when he breaks.

Do I need to remind everyone of he list of big men that were gimped or out in the playoffs? Oden, Okur, Andeson, Bogut, Lopez, Bynum, Perkins. We can assume if Yao could have played Houston would have made the playoffs. Was Nene hurt too? I think I may be missing one or two.

[Norm2953]

The entire premise is all wrong for Greg has never been healthy and even when he's
able to play, he's foul prone. I'd place Greg at #5 if he was healthy but that's a big
if for it has not happened yet.

Andrew Bynum has two championship rings as the Laker's starting center. Lot's of guys
have Brook Lopez as a top 5 center but he played on such a bad team last season that
I was tempted to push him down the list. Yao missed an entire season due to injury
and he's been breaking down so Howard is #1 by default.

[TrueMambaV]

The entire premise is all wrong for Greg has never been healthy and even when he's
able to play, he's foul prone. I'd place Greg at #5 if he was healthy but that's a big
if for it has not happened yet.

Andrew Bynum has two championship rings as the Laker's starting center. Lot's of guys
have Brook Lopez as a top 5 center but he played on such a bad team last season that
I was tempted to push him down the list. Yao missed an entire season due to injury
and he's been breaking down so Howard is #1 by default.

Hm, interesting. Where would you rank Yao (pre-injury) then? Say he does return to his 08-09 status, where does he rank now? above Duncan? Above Duncan and Howard? stays?

[deanwoof]

Dude, I understand we're homers, but putting Oden on the same level as Dwight Howard is ridiculous.

[benefit1970]

It is true that the best center of our generation missed about 12 games a year for his career. Unfortunately, looking at Shaq, you see a proportionate 7-footer. With Oden, you kinda don't.

If nobody got injured, the NBA would be a different place. But people get hurt, and some more than others. That's why people like Andre Miller are so extraordinarily underrated. The convenience of not having to shuffle a lineup and wait for a guy to get back into playing form is a serious luxury.

So I think this whole argument is ****. I guess that's what I really mean to say.

If healthy, Tracy MacGrady. If healthy, Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill. But they weren't. Health matters, and I don't think Oden's got the health thing working for him. I just think it's like saying "If they could shoot the three, who's the best point guard?" It's a moot point. Oden's not healthy. Probably won't ever be.

Thank God we have Roy, Aldridge, Batum, even OMSW, and I think if there were ever a time to move Oden to get a better player (hello, Mrs. Longoria-Parker) now is certainly it.

[Sabzi]

Dude, I understand we're homers, but putting Oden on the same level as Dwight Howard is ridiculous.

It's really not that ridiculous if you look at his BLK %, REB %, TS%, PER and factor in how well he shoots free throws.

What is "ridiculous" is assuming he will be healthy enough to log 30 minutes a night for 82 games.

[Malapropism]

Dude, I understand we're homers, but putting Oden on the same level as Dwight Howard is ridiculous.

It's really not that ridiculous if you look at his BLK %, REB %, TS%, PER and factor in how well he shoots free throws.

What is "ridiculous" is assuming he will be healthy enough to log 30 minutes a night for 82 games.

What about staying out of foul trouble....

[rasta_marley]

At this point in his career, Tim Duncan has to be considered a center...

1) Howard
2) Duncan
3) Yao
4) Bynum
5) Brook Lopez
6) Bogut
7) Kaman
8) Marc Gasol
9) Nene
10) Noah

Lots of guys like Noah, Horford, etc are PF's playing center while others like Tyson Chandler
who might make the US world team and others like Robin Lopez, Kendrick Perkins are solid
players. Demarcus Cousins will probably be a top 10 center by the end of the season.

So assuming all healthy Noah is better than Oden? That my friend, is false.

Very false I still remember the chicago game last year before Greg went down... I almost felt bad for poor Noah greg was just having his way with him, in fact Noah was soo frustared you could see it on his face.. and he got a technical foul when he let his frustaration get the better of him. Also right now a healthy Yao is a better center then duncan.

[benefit1970]

Dude, I understand we're homers, but putting Oden on the same level as Dwight Howard is ridiculous.

Somehow I think this board is less for common sense than anyone would care to admit.

I'm about at the end of my rope.

[BiggieSmalls]

so had oden been healthy during his career and everyone else was healthy, than at this point in time i would imagine my rankings would go as follows.....

1. dwight
2. oden
3. yao
4. b. lopez
5. im torn between bynum and bogut.

i really like bynum when he is healthy, he has shown some real athleticism and just needs more consistantcy on the court, injuries and matchups and foul trouble seem to hold him back at different points in his career from becoming a legit star center. him and oden should be the all star centers for the west if they stay healthy.


oh and brooke lopez seems to be getting overlooked by many on here. I think he is a great young center who put up 19/9 last year, granted it was on NJ, but he has great post moves and footwork and can hit a jumper out to 17 ft. and he has a great body to bang on defense and grab boards and block shots. i am a big fan of his.

[Sabzi]

Dude, I understand we're homers, but putting Oden on the same level as Dwight Howard is ridiculous.

It's really not that ridiculous if you look at his BLK %, REB %, TS%, PER and factor in how well he shoots free throws.

What is "ridiculous" is assuming he will be healthy enough to log 30 minutes a night for 82 games.

What about staying out of foul trouble....

Progress was made last year.... PER 36 Greg would give you 17, 13 & 3 before fouling out. I think it's unrealistic to assume that Oden will continue to get the short end of the whistle for his entire career. Injuries scare me far more than foul trouble when I gaze into the crystal ball.

[DaVoiceMaster]

Oden can play 30 minutes per night. He played 24 minutes last season for 25 games while only averaging just a hair under 4 fouls per game. If Nate wasn't such a weenie, Oden could have played more minutes in the first half of each game when he picked up 2 fouls.

[TrueMambaV]

Oden can play 30 minutes per night. He played 24 minutes last season for 25 games while only averaging just a hair under 4 fouls per game. If Nate wasn't such a weenie, Oden could have played more minutes in the first half of each game when he picked up 2 fouls.

Where are your rankings of the centers when healthy? Don't ignore me.