CLEVELAND, Ohio -- According to Wayne Embry, the question is not who is the best center in the 2011 NBA draft.
Instead, it's whether there is an actual center.
"It has become more and more difficult to define the position because of how the game has gone forward," said Embry, the former Cavaliers general manager who was a five-time All-Star center and is now a consultant to the Toronto Raptors. "There are 6-10 and 7-footers playing on the perimeter more and more. You don't see that many post players any more and you don't see that many post offenses any more."
The top five big men in this year's draft bring a variety of skills to their positions, but none qualifies as an old school, back to the basket, post-up center.
"In my mind there is really only one pure center in this draft, and it might be the young kid from Lithuania, [Jonas] Valanciunas, who I think is a long-term prospect that has tremendous potential," ESPN's Fran Fraschilla said in a conference call with reporters last week.
Added ESPN's Chad Ford, "Every year, the NBA teams reach for size. I'm not sure why the world isn't producing more seven footers who are coordinated to play basketball, but every year it seems we have to stretch a little bit to find those guys with size. Teams are willing to project more.
"So Valanciunas is not ready, but he might be [developed into a solid center]. He's got a 7-4 wing span. He's 7-feet tall and he's played pretty well in Europe. And Enes Kanter is another guy. A guy that's really risen, in my mind, the last month is Nikola Vucevic out of USC. And I think some of that, frankly, had to do with that he measured to be a legitimate NBA center at the Chicago pre-draft camp. He was 6-11, 7-4 wing span, and he had the standing reach of an NBA center.
"And there are so many teams [needing] size that those guys can rise on draft day."
Franschilla referred to Kanter as "Bigfoot."
"There have been a couple of sightings, but not many," :chuckles: he said of the Turkish center who was ruled ineligible to play at Kentucky last season because he'd been paid while playing in a pro league in his native country.
Franschilla likened Kanter to Atlanta's Al Horford, and said Kentucky coach John Calipari thought Kanter would have been to the Wildcats what Jared Sullinger was to Ohio State.
In all likelihood, if the Cavaliers do not trade the No. 4 pick, their choice will be between Kanter, who worked out twice in Cleveland, and Valanciunas, who reportedly is close to obtaining a buyout although it likely won't allow him to play in the NBA next season.
"I would probably take Kanter because of his size and strength," Franschilla said. "There are a lot of things I love about Valanciunas. The one thing that bothered me, and again, he was only 18 when he played this year in the Euro League. He was very much manhandled by strong, physical, European centers.
"I like a lot about both of them. There are things I don't like about each's game. But I've got a sneaky suspicion that because of Kanter's combination of size, athleticism and skill level, and I do think he's a little bit at this stage more skilled than Valanciunas."
