Greg Oden, Joakim Noah and More: Ranking the Best NBA Centers of the Next Decade

The NBA has been always been a game of the centers and it may still be now.  

These giants can mean so much and are so valuable.  It's an undeniable fact.

These walking beasts can single handedly turn a franchise from an average team into a title contender with their ability to dominate in the paint on both ends, clean the glass and attract double teams.

There are good center pieces to build on.  One of the biggest dynasties ever, the Boston Celtics of the '60s, had Bill Russell, who led the team to 11 championships in 13 years.  The '72 Lakers, who ended the season on a 33 game winning streak, had Wilt Chamberlain.

Then the Showtime LA of the 80's had Kareem, the Houston Rockets had Hakeem, New York had W. Reed and then Ewing, and so on.  Even the championship teams from the past 20 years had at least one awesome giant like O'Neal (three years, LA) and Tim Duncan.

This adds volumes to their value and finding a big man of the caliber from the mentioned here (minus Timmy, he's no center, but is a great big man) means gold for a franchise.  However, in the '00s, there have not been many good centers at all.

Part of it is the fact that they put on so much weight to maintain their strength and usually their knees can't hold out.  That is one of the biggest reasons for having hard time staying on the court, along with mediocre skills and lack of translation from the dominance of college into the pros.

However, now there's a young group of outstanding big men led by Dwight Howard himself, who are ready once again to take control of the league and, in short, they will.  And limiting injuries will only help.  

Without further ado, here are the most promising talents from the center position for the next decade!

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