The center position is back. For many years the NBA has been focused on guards or forwards who played like guards. We may be seeing a kind of big man renaissance in the league before our eyes. We just had a center win MVP for the first time since Shaq won it in the 1999-2000 season. Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid are at the forefront of the center renaissance. They are two of the top players in the league. There are many other talented centers in the league and maybe some of these prospects can join that elite group.
#5 Day’Ron Sharpe, University of North Carolina
Sharpe is a bruiser. He is 6-foot-11 and 265lbs. He dominated his opponents physically in the ACC. Sharpe has the strength to dominate a lot of the NBA’s centers as well with a lot of teams going towards small ball. What will be important for Sharpe is how he develops the other facets of his game. Sharpe is an actually veryunderrated playmaker for someone of his size. He understands the game well and is able to find cutters when doubled in the post. His handle is actually something that not a lot of people discuss. It is not advanced but is very effective. Sharpe is an above-average all-around playmaker for the center position.
He is not a shooter and does not really project to ever become one, but that is not what he will be expected to do. He moves really well for a man of his size. When switched onto guards in space, but surprisingly showed a lot of lateral quickness. He is a great rebounder and a very solid defender. He knows when to pick and choose his spots in help defense. Sharpe can be a very solid backup big man in the NBA.
#4 Charles Bassey, Western Kentucky University
Bassey was a top recruit a few years back that made the questionable decision to go play for Western Kentucky University. He has now finished up his junior season and is finally entering the NBA Draft. During his entire career at WKU, he has put up great numbers averaging 15.9 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.6blocks per game. These are great stats, but is kind of to be expected for someone of his talent level to do against a conference like Conference USA. By making this decision he definitely delayed his NBA path, but he still looks the part of a late first-rounder.
Bassey is a great athlete. He rebounds the ball well, he can score in a multitude of ways, and he blocks shots. The issue for him will be adjusting to the NBA. Conference USA definitely did not prepare Bassey for the next level. He was able to develop his game for an extra few years but against inferior competition. He will have to make the same adjustments as most of the players coming into the class, but he is two years older. Those two extra years he spent in college will have him turning 21 around when the NBA season will start. That is not super old for an NBA prospect, but prospects at his age are usually ready to contribute in the league right away, Bassey likely is not.
Bassey should still be a player to look for in the late first round or possibly even early second, but he could turn out to be a solid all-around player in the league.
#3 Usman Garuba, Spain
Garuba is an energizer. He is an absolute menace on the defensive end. He blocks tons of shots and is even seen picking up full court and trapping in various games. Garuba is the type of player that can swing the momentum of the game just off of the energy he brings on defense. He is only 6-foot-8, pretty undersized fora center, but he has a 7-foot-2 wingspan. He could follow the path of Robert Williams for the Celtics Williams is another 6-foot-8 center with incredible length.
Garuba is all over the place on the defensive end. He is a smart defender who knows where to be. From time to time he can be a little too aggressive which can burn him. On the offensive end, he is mostly limited to dunks around the paint and offensive put-backs. He has some potential to grow into more of a faceup scorer with some midrange shooting, but that is likely years away.
Garuba is a great athlete with a great motor. He will have a role in the NBA for his defense but might develop into something a lot more.
#2 Alperen Sengun,Turkey
Sengun is an interesting prospect. He is a burly 6-foot-10 and 240 pounds with most likely average length. He is never going to jump over somebody or blaze past someone, but he knows how to use his body to his advantage. Sengun uses his strength very well. He has been able to physically dominate grown men in the Turkish league as an eighteen-year-old. One of his biggest strengths is his playmaking. There has neverbeen a better time for the playmaking center, one of them just won MVP. Sengun shows natural passing ability out of the post. Something that pops on film is his teammates know how skilled he is so they make a lot of basket cuts when he has the ball.
He draws a lot of attention on the block with his strength so he loves flipping it over his shoulder to a teammate cutting towards the rim. Also, he projects to become a solid pick and pop option in the future. He still kind of launches his shot straight from his shoulder. This is not the biggest issue seeing as that he will only be really asked to shoot wide-open jumpers. He has improved his free throw numbers greatly which gives teams hope that he can become a reliable shooter in the future.
The knock-on him is that he is a well below-average athlete. He will be exposed if switched onto guards in the pick and roll and he does not have great length to guard bigs. When drafting him, you understand that you are going to be giving up a lot on the defensive end with him on the floor.
#1 Evan Mobley, University of Southern California
In most draft classes Mobley is the consensus number one pick. That outcome is still possible, but not likely due to the presence of Cade Cunningham. Mobley is a 7-foot big who can be an anchor for a team’s defense. He won the Pac 12’s Freshman of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Player of the Year. The last player to win all of those awards in their respective conference was Anthony Davis with Kentucky. His defensive outlook is scary. He has a 7-foot-4 wingspan and he uses it to his advantage. He is a great rimprotector but also has the mobility to guard out on the perimeter. Teams cannot expose him by taking him away from the rim.
Everybody knows Mobley is going to become a star on the defensive end, but it is offensive tools that are fueling such crazy hype. He has great faceup skills for a player of his size. He did not take a lot of threes on the season, but the fact that he took some and made some has teams super excited. When watching his USC film you will also see him grab a rebound and push the break quite often. He can handle the ball well and is a very underrated passer. He is not to the point of having guard skills, but he is getting there.
The only real knock on him as a prospect is his weight. He is only 210 pounds. He is going to get pushed around by most NBA bigs. Putting on weight is something that Mobley can easily do though, and even if he does not he has the skills and quickness to play the four if needed. Mobley is one of the best big man prospects in recent memory.
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