Ranking the top 5 centers in the Eastern Conference ahead of the 2021-22 NBA season

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#3 Nikola Vucevic (Chicago Bulls)

Nikola Vucevic will hope to make a deep playoff run with the Chicago Bulls

Vucevic is a modern NBA center, who averaged a career-best 23.4 ppg in 2020-21 and also had his best season from behind the arc where he made his shots with an efficiency rate of 40%. It is exactly the kind of performance that has made Vucevic an All-Star in two of his last three NBA seasons. That he also averages 10.4 rpg over the course of his 10-year NBA career proves that Vucevic is a consistent double-double machine.

Having been traded by the Orlando Magic to the Bulls in March 2021, Vucevic will be part of a formidable Chicago unit that also features Zach LaVine and new offseason additions DeMar DeRozan and Lonzo Ball for the 2021-22 NBA season. If the group can get Chicago to make a deep playoff run, Vucevic would perhaps value that success a lot more since he has never made it past the first round of the NBA playoffs.

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#2 Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat)

Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat will hope to have a strong showing in 2021-22 Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers is the best big man in the East

One was hoping for a stronger showing from Bam Adebayo in 2020-21 after the Miami Heat center’s first All-Star appearance in 2019-20. And although Adebayo averaged a robust 18.7 ppg, 9.0 rpg and 5.4 apg, while shooting 57.0% from the floor in the last NBA season, the Heat star did disappoint to some extent.

A first-round playoff exit for the Heat at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks, where Adebayo simply had no answer for a rampaging Giannis Antetokounmpo, also contributed to the disappointment.

But a new NBA season brings with it new opportunities and new expectations. Bolstered by the additions of Kyle Lowry, PJ Tucker and Markieff Morris, Adebayo will have a lot more help while playing alongside talented stars like Jimmy Butler and Victor Oladipo.

If he can anchor the Heat’s defense and be dominant in the paint, the Heat will have a good chance of representing the East in the 2022 NBA Finals.

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#1 Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers)

Embiid would probably be rated as the best center in the NBA had he picked up the 2020-21 regular season MVP award. However, a knee injury limited him to just 51 games, which is why Nikola Jokic walked away with the honor.

Nonetheless, Embiid posted career-best numbers for Philadelphia in 2020-21 in scoring (28.5 ppg), field-goal shooting (51.3%) and three-point shooting (37.7%). He also averaged 10.6 rpg, which means that he has been putting up a double-double (across points and rebounds) for four straight seasons.

The focus now for Embiid will be dealing with the Ben Simmons situation in Philadelphia. If Simmons leaves the franchise, the onus will be on Embiid to carry the team to the 2022 Playoffs with a strong regular season showing. If, however, Simmons does decide to stay on in Philly, Embiid will have to make it work with the disgruntled point guard and make him believe that together the pair can achieve great things.