Is a Franchise Center Still Needed?

Periodically there are discussions about whether or not the Blazers made the correct decision drafting Greg Oden instead of Kevin Durant in the 2007 NBA Draft. With Kevin Durant playing at an All-Star level this season and Greg Oden coming off of micro-fracture surgery most people are siding with Durant being the better player. Sometimes they will note the recent NBA champions that didn't have a dominant center.

That several recent NBA champs haven't had an All-Star caliber player at the center position is undeniable. The list of starting centers for NBA champions for the last 15 years is:

• 2008-Kendrick Perkins
• 2007-Francisco Elson
• 2006-Shaquille O'Neal
• 2005-Rasho Nesterovic
• 2004-Ben Wallace
• 2003-David Robinson
• 2002-Shaquille O'Neal
• 2001-Shaquille O'Neal
• 2000-Shaquille O'Neal
• 1999-David Robinson
• 1998-Luc Longley
• 1997-Luc Longley
• 1996-Luc Longley
• 1995-Hakeem Olawujon
• 1994-Hakeem Olawujon

From the looks of this list, over the course of the last 5 years or so, having a dominant center hasn't been required to win a championship. The success of the Jordan-led Bulls also support the notion that not having a dominant center isn't a show stopper when it comes to winning championships. This is not to say that the center position has become marginalized in today's NBA game. Dominant centers provide a couple of critical things when winning championships is the goal. These things are:

1. Rebounding
2. An interior offensive threat
3. Interior Defense

Historically, the center has been the lead guy for giving those 3 things to the team. However, it today's NBA positions are much more fluid. Tim Duncan is widely regarded as the greatest power forward in the history of the game when he is largely a forward in name only as he plays the role of the center even though in the media guide he is listed as a forward. Where those 3 key factors come from isn't really important, but it is important that a team has them. The recent Boston, Detroit and San Antonio title teams had Kevin Garnett, Rasheed Wallace and Tim Duncan respectively. Both of these players provide all of the required factors from the power forward position.

In one section of the book "Moneyball", the Oakland athletics are contemplating how they are going to replace the league MVP. While they wouldn't be able to replace the production of Jeremy Giambi with one player, they realized that if the rest of the team were able to set up their production to make up for the loss of a key component of their offense the year prior. Why the tangent into baseball? Because that is very similar to what the Bulls did during their championship runs. The Bulls were never able to obtain an elite center, yet they were one of most successful teams ever. This is obtain used to assert Michael Jordan's primacy in the NBA. However upon closer inspection, the Bulls were able to get the important production of the center position from other positions on the floor. Lets look at each of the components in more depth:

Rebounding
During his 3 years in Chicago, Dennis Rodman led the league in rebounding. This helped the Bulls be one of the best rebounding teams in the league during those years as they finished 1,2,1 in the league in terms of offensive rebound% during those three years. The rebounding also went further than just Rodman cleaning the glass. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were two of the best rebounders at their positions in NBA history as well.

An Interior Offensive Presence
As good of a rebounder as Rodman was, at this point in his career he was just as poor at scoring the basketball. Thus he didn't give the Bulls the same production that the Spurs were able to get out of their centers. However they Bulls were able to get their inside scoring from...Michael Jordan. From an interview with Tex Winter:

Observers like to point out that Jordan played on a Chicago Bulls team with no great center, but Winter always countered that Jordan was a great post-up player and in essence was the premier post weapon of his time.

Interior Defense
This is something that is easier to come across as there are usually multiple good defensive centers available. The Bulls were able to cobble together this with Rodman doing the dirty work inside and getting help from Jordan and Pippen from the perimeter.

Thus we see that while a franchise center isn't strictly necessary, the things that a franchise center brings to the table are. But they can be found at other positions provided those players make it a mission to rebound, score in the paint, etc.