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

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#3 Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota Timberwolves)

Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves in action

Karl-Anthony Towns has a double-double rate (293 out of 408 career games) of three every four games. That is better than both Anthony Davis and Giannis Antetokounmpo, which means Towns certainly has the game to dominate. He averaged 24.8 ppg, 10.6 rpg and a career-best 4.5 apg in the 2020-21 NBA season, which was a hard one for him, since he had lost several family members including his mother to COVID.

This is going to be a key season for KAT because of how he bounces back from the personal loss. He is among the better big shooting men in this league, posting an efficiency rate of near 40.0% from downtown. If he can put the Minnesota Timberwolves on his back and take them to the 2022 NBA Playoffs, it would be a big achievement for Towns both personally and on the team front as well.

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#2 Rudy Gobert (Utah Jazz)

Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year

The NBA’s best defensive big man. While Rudy Gobert may not exactly top the scoring averages, he certainly is a monster at protecting the rim. The fact that he has won three of the NBA’s last four Defensive Player of the Year awards, including the current one (2021), is proof of just how good he is.

Gobert averaged 14.3 ppg and 13.5 rpg in the 2020-21 season while shooting a league-best 67.5% from the floor. While his teammate Donovan Mitchell gets a lot of the praise for his scoring and athleticism, Gobert is the reason the Jazz have consistently been a playoff contender in the last few NBA seasons.

If only Gobert could develop some kind of mid-range jumper, he would be unstoppable given his long arms and incredible wingspan.

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#1 Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets, 2020-21 NBA MVP)

Nikola Jokic is the best center in the NBA's Western Conference

With career-bests in scoring (26.4 ppg) and assists (8.3 apg) while giving his team 10.8 rpg, Nikola Jokic truly dominated for the Denver Nuggets in the 2020-21 NBA season. Jokic deservedly won the league’s MVP award on the back of an extremely efficient field goal shooting (56.6%) and three-point shooting (38.8%) performance.

That Jokic was also available for the entire 72-game season for the Nuggets, when the franchise was among the last four teams standing in the 2020 NBA Playoffs and had to play the 2020-21 season on a very short turnaround, is proof of Jokic’s toughness.

The injury to Jamal Murray derailed the Nuggets' aspirations for the 2021postseason. However, with Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon signed to new contracts, and Murray expected to return soon, the expectation in Denver is that Jokic can lift the team to greater heights.