Sunday, December 28, 2014

NBA 2K15 Center Ratings (12/28/14)

Finishing off the position rating lists are the centers.  Data is a few days old (12/24) as I was half-done writing the article but haven't been home the last two days to finalize it.  Stats may be slightly off, and a few ratings may have changed (there was a big update within the last 48 hours).

CENTER (65)
1-10
89 (+3) DeMarcus Cousins (27.9 PER, 59 TS%, 33 USG%, 18 AST%)
89 (+4) Marc Gasol (23.2 PER, 57 TS%, 26 USG%, 18 AST%)
89 (+1) Dwight Howard (21.4 PER, 58 TS%, 25 USG%, 10 AST%)
86 (+2) Chris Bosh (22.4 PER, 57 TS%, 29 USG%, 12 AST%)
86 (-1) Al Jefferson (20.7 PER, 52 TS%, 28 USG%, 12 AST%)
85 (-2) Joakim Noah (15.3 PER, 51 TS%, 15 USG%, 20 AST%)
84 (+1) Al Horford (19.8 PER, 57 TS%, 22 USG%, 16 AST%)
83 (+4) Tyson Chandler (22.4 PER, 71 TS%, 13 USG%, 6 AST%)
82 (+4) Derrick Favors (22.7 PER, 59 TS%, 23 USG%, 9 AST%)
82 (+2) Nikola Vucevic (20.6 PER, 55 TS%, 25 USG%, 11 AST%)

DMC WATCH
There are eight centers in the modern era (1980 and beyond) who have posted 26+ PER in a season. Here are their all-time best marks.

1994 David Robinson (30.7 PER, 58 TS%, 32 USG%, 22 AST%)
2000 Shaquille O'Neal (30.6 PER, 58 TS%, 31 USG%, 19 AST%)
2015 DeMarcus Cousins (27.9 PER, 59 TS%, 33 USG%, 18 AST%)
2008 Amare Stoudemire (27.8 PER, 66 TS%, 28 USG%, 8 AST%)
1993 Hakeem Olajuwon (27.3 PER, 58 TS%, 29 USG%, 16 AST%)
1982 Moses Malone (26.8 PER, 58 TS%, 30 USG%, 7 AST%)
2007 Yao Ming (26.5 PER, 60 TS%, 34 USG%, 12 AST%)
2011 Dwight Howard (26.1 PER, 61 TS%, 27 USG%, 7 AST%)

26+ PER SEASONS
Shaquille O'Neal: 11 (1994-2003, 2005)
David Robinson: 8 (1990-1992, 1994-1998)
DeMarcus Cousins: 2* (2014, 2015*)
Amare Stoudemire: 2 (2005, 2008)
Hakeem Olajuwon: 2 (1993, 1995)
Moses Malone: 1 (1982)
Yao Ming: 1 (2007)
Dwight Howard: 1 (2011)

DMC is clearly in some special company as a select few have ever been this good, particularly on the offensive end.  I'm not suggesting that Cousins is on par with two-way players like The Dream and The Admiral, but he is essentially "Shaq-lite".

Before you freak out over my comparison, Shaq was never anywhere close to the 80 FT%(!) DMC is shooting right now, which equated to many lost possessions over the years.  Unfortunately, I don't think Nik Stauskas or Ben McLemore qualify as "Kobe-lite", so I don't think DMC will be contending for five championships anytime soon.

11-20
82 (+1) Marcin Gortat (18.6 PER, 57 TS%, 20 USG%, 7 AST%)
82 (+2) Roy Hibbert (15.4 PER, 50 TS%, 22 USG%, 10 AST%)
81 (+3) Jonas Valanciunas (19.7 PER, 61 TS%, 19 USG%, 3 AST%)
81 (NC) DeAndre Jordan (18.9 PER, 66 TS%, 11 USG%, 3 AST%)
81 (-2) Andre Drummond (18.8 PER, 49 TS%, 21 USG%, 2 AST%)
81 (-2) Brook Lopez (17.6 PER, 54 TS%, 26 USG%, 5 AST%)
81 (+1) Andrew Bogut (17.2 PER, 54 TS%, 15 USG%, 16 AST%)
81 (NC) Nikola Pekovic (16.0 PER, 51 TS%, 21 USG%, 4 AST%)
79 (NC) Larry Sanders (15.4 PER, 51 TS%, 17 USG%, 6 AST%)
78 (+1) Tiago Splitter (20.4 PER, 68 TS%, 17 USG%, 19 AST%)

Roy Hibbert's offensive woes continue to plague him, one of the reasons why the Pacers have continued to lose despite all their non-George players getting healthy.

Conversely, Jonas Valanciunas' high level of play has been a key ingredient to the Raptors success this season.  They haven't missed a beat even in the absence of DeMar DeRozan.

Splitter's sample is a little low due to injury, but he's been perhaps the most underrated Spur for a few years now.

21-30
78 (+1) Mason Plumlee (19.4 PER, 52 TS%, 22 USG%, 8 AST%)
78 (+3) Anderson Varejao (17.6 PER, 58 TS%, 18 USG%, 9 AST%)
77 (+2) Brandan Wright (25.5 PER, 75 TS%, 15 USG%, 3 AST%)
77 (+1) Jordan Hill (17.8 PER, 52 TS%, 19 USG%, 8 AST%)
77 (NC) Robin Lopez (15.9 PER, 54 TS%, 16 USG%, 7 AST%)
76 (+3) Ed Davis (18.7 PER, 63 TS%, 13 USG%, 6 AST%)
76 - Chris Kaman (16.5 PER, 52 TS%, 26 USG%, 8 AST%)
76 - Omer Asik (16.2 PER, 54 TS%, 14 USG%, 5 AST%)
76 (+1) Chris Andersen (11.3 PER, 53 TS%, 11 USG%, 4 AST%)
75 (+5) Tyler Zeller (21.8 PER, 70 TS%, 17 USG%, 9 AST%)

It's not often that we see a bench player in the top 20 of league PER, but that's exactly what Brandan Wright has been able to do based on an unprecedented level of efficiency.

WRIGHT STUFF
2015 Wright (DAL): 25.9 PER, 76 TS%, 15 USG%, 8 TO%
2015 Speights (GSW): 21.9 PER, 57 TS%, 29 USG%, 11 TO%
2014 Wright (DAL): 23.5 PER, 70 TS%, 17 USG% 9 TO%
2013 Blatche (BRK): 21.9 PER, 55 TS%, 27 USG%, 14 TO%
2013 Wright (DAL): 21.0 PER, 61 TS%, 19 USG%, 7 TO%
2013 McGee (DEN): 20.7 PER, 59 TS%, 21 USG%, 13 TO%
2012 Wright (DAL): 21.6 PER, 63 TS%, 17 USG%, 7 TO%

Most players with high PER ratings get there on the sheer volume of their Usage rate (as we can see with Speights and Blatche).  Wright however has done it by maximizing every single opportunity that he gets.  His 76 TS% would finish as an NBA record and it wouldn't be close (ironically enough, Tyson Chandler, who Wright backed up in Dallas has the record - 70.8 TS%, achieved in 2012 w/ the Knicks).

2015 Wright (DAL): 25.9 PER, 76 TS%, 15 USG%, 8 TO%, 6.8 BLK%
2015 Chandler (DAL): 22.3 PER, 71 TS%, 14 USG%, 16 TO%
2012 Chandler (NYK): 18.7 PER, 71 TS%, 13 USG%, 17 TO%

Wright does not need the ball to get efficient scores, which keeps his turnover rate obscenely low.  Even though Wright's usage is slightly higher than Chandler's, he has HALF the turnover rate.  For what it's worth, Chandler is also on pace (71.3 TS%) to beat his record (70.8 TS%), and seems more likely to do it as I don't think Wright is likely to keep up his mind-boggling level of production in the Celtics system.  Playing next to Dirk Nowitzki offers a different kind of freedom that Wright won't find next to Kelly Olynyk and Jared Sullinger (although the success of Tyler Zeller certainly leaves the window open).  It's a shame as I really would have liked to see Wright's full season numbers as his production was truly unique to NBA history.

31-40
75 (+4) Rudy Gobert (20.8 PER, 64 TS%, 13 USG%, 6 AST%)
75 (+3) Gorgui Dieng (18.5 PER, 59 TS%, 14 USG%, 11 AST%)
75 (+1) Kelly Olynyk (17.0 PER, 60 TS%, 20 USG%, 12 AST%)
75 (NC) John Henson (17.0 PER, 59 TS%, 16 USG%, 7 AST%)
75 (+1) Steven Adams (13.5 PER, 54 TS%, 16 USG%, 5 AST%)
75 (-1) Spencer Hawes (13.2 PER, 52 TS%, 18 USG%, 11 AST%)
75 (NC) Ian Mahinmi (13.1 PER, 57 TS%, 13 USG%, 5 AST%)
75 (-3) Miles Plumlee (11.7 PER, 54 TS%, 11 USG%, 4 AST%)
74 (NC) JaVale McGee (17.3 PER, 62 TS%, 20 USG%, 0 AST%)
74 (NC) Timofey Mozgov (15.2 PER, 58 TS%, 15 USG%, 3 AST%)

It's this portion of the top 10 where it becomes clear centers are considerably underrated compared to other positions.

Rank 31-40,  Average PER and 2K Rating
PG: 14.7 PER = 75.6 OVR
SG: 11.0 PER = 75.4 OVR
SF: 12.0 PER = 75.3 OVR
PF: 16.8 PER = 75.1 OVR
C: 15.7 PER = 74.8 OVR

At the higher levels, most of the NBA's top players are perimeter players.  This is reflected in 2K's ratings.  However once we get to the middle tiers it's easily seen that PF/C dominate the middle tiers yet rate lower than any other position.  This gap was even larger prior to NBA 2K15, when the vast majority of centers all rated about 3-6 points worse Overall.

41-50
74 (NC) Elton Brand (12.3 PER, 55 TS%, 13 USG%, 7 AST%)
74 (-2) Samuel Dalembert (12.1 PER, 46 TS%, 15 USG%, 9 AST%)
74 (NC) Kendrick Perkins (7.8 PER, 46 TS%, 14 USG%, 6 AST%)
73 (NC) Bismack Biyombo (17.7 PER, 60 TS%, 13 USG%, 2 AST%)
73 (+1) Kosta Koufos (14.6 PER, 55 TS%, 14 USG%, 6 AST%)
73 (X) Ryan Hollins (12.7 PER, 70 TS%, 12 USG%, 6 AST%)
73 (-1) Kevin Seraphin (12.6 PER, 55 TS%, 21 USG%, 9 AST%)
72 (+3) Jusuf Nurkic (13.8 PER, 47 TS%, 24 USG%, 8 AST%)
71 (X) Aron Baynes (16.0 PER, 64 TS%, 18 USG%, 6 AST%)
71 (+4) Alex Len (14.7 PER, 58 TS%, 13 USG%, 3 AST%)

The only reason Kendrick Perkins was rated 74 OVR was to ensure the CPU would start him over Steven Adams during season modes.  Now that Perkins is no longer starting it's safe to tank his rating to an appropriate level.

Aron Baynes has been much more productive this year compared to his last two seasons (9.5 PER, 48 TS%).  Gotta love Pop's ability to max out his players and keep the machine running regardless of who is hurt/resting.

51-65
71 (+4) Festus Ezeli (12.0 PER, 59 TS%, 18 USG%, 3 AST%)
71 (+2) Zaza Pachulia (11.7 PER, 50 TS%, 17 USG%, 14 AST%)
70 (+1) Jeff Withey (20.0 PER, 63 TS%, 16 USG%, 6 AST%)
70 (+1) Henry Sims (14.4 PER, 54 TS%, 19 USG%, 9 AST%)
70 (+4) DeWayne Dedmon (13.9 PER, 51 TS%, 15 USG%, 3 AST%)
70 (+1) Pero Antic (9.6 PER, 53 TS%, 17 USG%, 8 AST%)
70 (+1) Justin Hamilton (7.7 PER, 47 TS%, 12 USG%, 4 AST%)
69 (NC) Chuck Hayes (10.1 PER, 53 TS%, 11 USG%, 12 AST%)
69 (NEW) Joey Dorsey (8.4 PER, 40 TS%, 11 USG%, 5 AST%)
68 (NC) Alexis Ajinca (18.2 PER, 72 TS%, 18 USG%, 4 AST%)
68 (X) Jerome Jordan (16.5 PER, 66 TS%, 15 USG%, 6 AST%)
68 (NC) Meyers Leonard (13.7 PER, 59 TS%, 16 USG%, 6 AST%)
68 (+1) Robert Sacre (11.8 PER, 47 TS%, 16 USG%, 7 AST%)
67 (NC) Cole Aldrich (16.9 PER, 57 TS%, 16 USG%, 12 AST%)
67 (NC) Jeff Ayres (11.4 PER, 56 TS%, 15 USG%, 7 AST%)

I've been on the #FreeColeAldrich train for four years and I'm not about to jump off now.

#FreeColeAldrich
Starter: 11.8 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 2.3 BPG, 75.7 TS%, 15.9 USG%, 25.5 MPG (6 career games)
Reserve: 2.0 PPG, 7.6 MPG (159 career games)

He's one of the few Knicks I expect to last with the team beyond next season.  Cole has started four of the last five games and should continue to get opportunities.  Which probably means he shouldn't be the lowest rated center in the NBA.

LESS THAN 100 MINUTES (16)
77 (NC) Joel Embiid (DNP)
71 (X) Nazr Mohammed (4.6 PER, 32 TS%, 14 USG%, 4 AST%)
70 (-2) Andrea Bargnani (DNP)
69 (NEW) Hassan Whiteside (21.7 PER, 68 TS%, 19 USG%, 0 AST%)
69 (+1) Ronny Turiaf (4.3 PER, N/A TS%, 0 USG%, 14 AST%)
68 (NEW) Mike Muscala (22.0 PER, 63 TS%, 21 USG%, 7 AST%)
68 (NC) Ekpe Udoh (3.8 PER, 29 TS%, 10 USG%, 3 AST%)
68 (NEW) Furkan Aldemir (3.0 PER, 33 TS%, 17 USG%, 17 AST%)
67 (NC) Ognjen Kuzmic (2,9 PER, 50 TS%, 10 USG%, 3 AST%)
67 (-2) Lucas Nogueira (-11.8 PER, 15 TS%, 31 USG%, 4 AST%)
66 (-1) Greg Smith (14.1 PER, 67 TS%, 10 USG%, 3 AST%)
66 (NC) Greg Stiemsma (12.2 PER, 87 TS%, 11 USG%, 7 AST%)
66 (NC) Joel Anthony (7.3 PER, 55 TS%, 5 USG%, 2 AST%)
66 (+1) Brendan Haywood (6.2 PER, 44 TS%, 19 USG%, 0 AST%)
65 (NEW) Alex Kirk (26.4 PER, 69 TS%, 27 USG%, 22 AST%)
65 (NEW) Shayne Whittington (23.6 PER, 59 TS%, 18 USG%, 11 AST%)

FREE AGENTS (27)
75 (NC) Andray Blatche (DNP)
73 (NC) Jermaine O'Neal (DNP)
73 (NC) Emeka Okafor (DNP)
73 (NC) Andrew Bynum (DNP)
73 (NC) Isaiah Austin (DNP)
72  (NC) Vitor Faverani (DNP)
68 (NC) Josh Harrellson (DNP)
68 (NC) Greg Oden (DNP)
67 (NC) Miroslav Raduljica (DNP)
67 (NC) Aaron Gray (DNP)
66 (NC) Gustavo Ayon (DNP)
66 (NC) Hilton Armstrong (DNP)
66 (NC) Bernard James (DNP)
66 (NC) Jason Collins (DNP)
66 (NC) Andris Biedrins (DNP)
65 (NC) Kwame Brown (DNP)
65 (NC) Hasheem Thabeet (DNP)
65 (NC) Melvin Ely (DNP)
65 (NC) Earl Barron (DNP)
65 (NC) Dexter Pittman (DNP)
65 (NC) Fab Melo (NC)
64 (NC) Viacheslav Kravtsov (DNP)
63 (NC) Daniel Orton (DNP)
63 (NC) Kyrylo Fesenko (DNP)
63 (NC) D.J. Mbenga (DNP)
63 (NC) Solomon Jones (DNP)
63 (NC) Solomon Alabi (DNP)

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