NBA Free Agency 2017: 5 best centers available

There’s plenty of talent to dissect for free agency, so we took the liberty of laying out the five best centers this summer.

The 2017 NBA free agency is nearing it’s beginning. Fans wait with bated breath to witness what their front office’s plan of action is. It’s an exciting time for everyone around the league.

This summer, there’s an odd lack of centers available on the market. Well, starting centers. In this year’s crop of talent, there are, arguably, two potential starting centers (which we will get to in a second). Last year, we had Hassan Whiteside, Andre Drummond, Al Horford, and Dwight Howard. All of those guys are starting centers in the league. When you compare last year to this year, it’s a bit of a letdown.

The lack of depth at the center position for free agency doesn’t define the 2017 free agency as a whole, though. We have Gordon Hayward, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, etc. This year will be anything but boring, including the center position.

Let’s jump right in.

5. Kelly Olynyk

Kelly Olynyk is the backup center for the Boston Celtics. Some describe him as a “dirty player,” but I’ll let you make your own assumptions.

As an offensive minded center, he has found his way as a viable scoring option off of Boston’s bench. Last season was a bit of a drop off for Kelly in terms of raw statistics. His points per game dropped from 10 to nine and his 3-point percentage dropped from 41 percent to 35 percent (he actually took less 3s in 2016). Olynyk’s rebounding totals and defensive stats don’t look like much but he’s capable in both areas.

That’s not to say he’s worthless by any means. There’s always room for shooters/scorers in the NBA, especially during the modern era where teams have figured out how to score in advanced ways. If Olynyk can put on a show like he did in Game 7 against the Washington Wizards, he can be a valuable asset to any team.