This season has made one thing clear: center play is still the easiest way to tilt a game, but the gap between No. 1 and everyone else is bigger than usual. A lot of teams have good bigs. Only one team has a big man who basically runs the entire sport like a point guard while also being the biggest body on the floor.
That is why this pyramid is a little different than the ones we did for point guards and shooting guards. The top tier is a solo tier. After that, it is more about roles and impact. Some centers are engines. Some are finishers. Some are defensive anchors who win possessions without taking a shot.
Also, availability matters this year. A few names on this list have missed time, and that has shaped how their seasons feel. The pyramid below is strictly about 2025-26 performance, with context from team results, role, and what has actually happened recently.
The Best
Nikola Jokic
Nikola Jokic is in his own tier because his season is basically a cheat code. He is putting up 28.5 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 10.6 assists per game on 58.4% from the field. That is center volume scoring with point-guard control. It is also not “for fun” production. The Nuggets are 35-21 and sitting fourth in the West, and the entire offense still runs through his reads.
The cleanest way to explain Jokic is that he creates great shots without needing chaos. He does not have to win with speed. He wins with timing. When teams switch, he punishes the mismatch in the post. When teams stay home on shooters, he turns the corner into floaters and short-roll touch. When teams send help, he turns it into layups for everyone else. And because his passing is so consistent, teams cannot “live with” anything. Every coverage has a weak point, and he finds it.
Even on nights when the Nuggets lose, the baseline is still absurd. Last night, the Nuggets lost 115-114 to the Clippers, and Jokic still finished with 22 points, 17 rebounds, and six assists. That game also snapped a four-game triple-double streak, which is a sentence that says more about his normal level than his bad nights.
Elite Stars
Alperen Sengun, Joel Embiid, Jalen Duren
Alperen Sengun has quietly become one of the most complete offensive centers in the league. He is at 20.5 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game, which is not “nice for a big,” it is real creation. The Rockets are 34-20 and third in the West, and Sengun’s passing is a big reason they can play with pace without playing sloppy.
The other part of his season is how his role keeps shifting depending on who is hot. The Rockets have won games lately with Kevin Durant carrying huge scoring loads, including a 35-point night in a 105-101 win over the Hornets right after the break. Sengun did not need a big scoring game to impact last night; he played through the flow, took pressure off possessions, and still gravitated to playmaking and defense.
Joel Embiid is still the most overwhelming two-way center when he is on the floor, but his season has been shaped by interruptions. He is at 26.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game, and the 76ers are 30-25 while running sixth in the East. That is a strong stat line, but it is also a season that has not had a clean rhythm.
Right now, that matters. Embiid was ruled out recently with left shin soreness, and the 76ers have had to survive without him in many games this season until he came back stronger. The season is still elite, as he’s been averaging 29.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in 17 games since January 1. Even with as many injuries as he’s dealt with so far (including an absence last night against the Hawks), his campaign really turned into a monster year.
Jalen Duren is the curveball name here, but the year backs it up. He is at 17.7 points and 10.4 rebounds per game on 63.1% shooting, and the Pistons are 41-13, first in the entire league. That is the profile of a center who is not just finishing plays, but bending defenses with rim pressure and extra possessions.
And the team context is not fake. The Pistons just swept the Knicks and are playing like a real top seed, not a nice story. Cade Cunningham’s explosions get the headlines, but Duren’s vertical spacing and rebounding are the stuff that makes those runs sustainable in playoff-style minutes.
Exceptional
Rudy Gobert, Jarrett Allen, Nic Claxton, Ivica Zubac, Alex Sarr, Donovan Clingan
Rudy Gobert is still one of the few centers who can decide a game without a single play being called for him. The scoring is modest (11.0 points), but the efficiency is extreme (70.3% from the field), which is exactly the profile of a big who lives on rim runs, seals, and second-chance finishes. The real value is the possession control: 11.1 rebounds per game, plus the screens and paint gravity that clean up the shot diet for everyone else (1.6 blocks).
Defensively, Gobert is still a system. The Timberwolves can play more aggressive on the perimeter because they trust the back line. When he’s on the floor, teams think twice about attacking the rim, and that changes where shots come from. The reason he sits in this tier, not higher, is that his impact is dominant but specialized. He’s not an offensive hub. He’s an elite anchor who warps the floor in one direction, and that still matters enough to be “Exceptional” in a center pyramid.
Jarrett Allen has been one of the steadiest centers in the league this season, and his line reflects that stability: 14.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 62.3% shooting. He isn’t asked to create offense, but he finishes the possessions that good guards and wings generate, and he does it with a low-error style that keeps the Cavaliers’ offense clean.
The bigger story is how he stabilizes lineups that change game to game. Cleveland has had to manage different roster looks and matchups, and Allen’s presence keeps their identity intact: protect the rim, control the glass, run structured offense. He’s not a ceiling-raiser in the Jokic sense, but he raises the floor every night. That’s why he fits here, as an “Exceptional” center whose impact shows up in team consistency more than headline stats.
Nic Claxton’s season is basically a two-way job description. The box score reads like a modern center who can do more than just screen and finish: 12.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists while shooting 59.0% from the field. That assist number matters, because it signals he’s touching the ball in decision spots, not just as a dunk target.
The Nets’ record drags the spotlight away from him, but his value is easier to see in the structure. He covers mistakes. He can switch, recover, and still protect the rim enough to keep the defense from collapsing. The injury note matters too, because his impact is heavily tied to mobility, and missing time interrupts rhythm for both him and the team. In this tier, you’re basically weighing strong two-way play against uneven team context, and Claxton lands on the strong side.
Ivica Zubac has been a classic “center does the job” season, but at a high level: 14.4 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 61.3% shooting. That’s the profile of a big who wins on positioning and reliability. He finishes efficiently, he rebounds his area, and he gives you a real interior presence without needing touches that slow the offense down.
The trade changes how you frame his season because it changes the stakes and the environment. Moving midseason asks a lot from a center, especially one whose value is tied to timing with ball-handlers and defensive communication. But the skill set travels: rim finishing, defensive rebounding, and physical screening. He’s “Exceptional” because he’s been bringing winning traits every night, even if he’s not a star creator and even if the team context around him has shifted.
Alex Sarr making this tier as a second-year player is a real statement about his season. The production is already star-level: 17.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, which is a rare scoring workload for a young big. It also suggests real usage, not just easy baskets. He has had stretches where he’s been asked to create, attack closeouts, and score against set defenses, which is not normal sophomore-center stuff.
The limiter is availability. Being out with a hamstring strain matters because the growth curve is built on reps. It also matters for ranking, because the pyramid is about what actually happened across the season, not what a player could be at full health. Still, the reason Sarr stays in “Exceptional” is simple: the scoring volume is real, the role is real, and the responsibility is higher than what most sophomores handle at the position.
Donovan Clingan’s season belongs in this tier because he already controls the possession game. The scoring is fine (11.6 points), but the defining numbers are 11.5 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, which puts him among the league’s best rim presences. That type of dominance on the glass is a skill that translates immediately, even before the offensive package is complete.
He’s not a polished offensive hub yet, and he doesn’t need to be to matter. What he’s giving the Trail Blazers is physicality, paint control, and a consistent base that helps them win the shot-count battle. The reason he’s “Exceptional” rather than “Quality Starter” is that his inside defense at this level is not just a role trait; it’s a game-shaper. When a sophomore is already dictating that part of the floor, it deserves a higher tier.
Quality Starters
Kel’el Ware, Nikola Vucevic, Deandre Ayton, Onyeka Okongwu
Kel’el Ware has given the Heat exactly what they needed from the spot: real minutes, real rebounds, and enough scoring to keep defenses honest. He is at 11.3 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, and the Heat is 29-27 and eighth in the East. He also popped for a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double right after the break, which is the kind of game that keeps his role stable.
Nikola Vucevic is still one of the league’s cleanest “connectors” at center. He is at 16.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game, and he has done a great job for a Celtics team that sits 36-19. He is not dominating matchups every night, but he keeps offense organized, and that matters on a top seed as a recent addition to the squad.
Deandre Ayton’s year has been about efficiency, even if the fit has been messy at times. He is at 13.2 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting 67.5%, and the Lakers are 33-21 and fifth in the West. He missed two games with a sore right knee, but he is expected back, and that matters because the Lakers’ lineup has barely had consistent reps with their main pieces all season.
Onyeka Okongwu has looked more like a long-term big than a pure role center for the Hawks. He is at 16.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game, and the Hawks are 27-30. In last night’s win over the 76ers, his activity showed up in the moments that swung the fourth quarter. That is the quality-starter tier: not always the best name in the matchup, but consistently involved in the plays that decide the game.
