Fantasy Basketball Centers to Watch This Season
In most fantasy drafts this fall, the story at center ends after Nikola Jokić and Victor Wembanyama go off the board. If you’re not holding one of those top two picks, you’re living in the real world — the messy middle where minutes, roles and upside decide titles.
That’s where this season gets interesting.
Offseason trades, shifting depth charts and a few quietly expanding roles have cracked open the position. In Yahoo’s High Score format, where only a player’s best game of the week counts, volatility becomes a weapon, not a problem. These six risers and sleepers at center won’t cost you a premium pick, but they can swing a matchup with one big night.
Kel’el Ware, Milwaukee Bucks
Ceiling nights that can win you a week
Kel’el Ware is the kind of profile fantasy managers chase and usually overpay for. This year, you might not have to.
He walked into the league as a stretch big, but the shot didn’t really land until last season. After a 31.5% rookie year from deep, he spiked to 39.5% from three. The rest of the line followed. In just 22 minutes per game with Miami, he posted 11.1 points, 9 rebounds, 0.8 steals, 1.1 blocks and 1.2 threes.
The real tease came when the minutes finally climbed. In the 10 games where he cleared 30 minutes, Ware turned into a monster: 18.1 points, 14 boards, 1.1 steals, 3.3 blocks and 1.8 made threes. Those are league-warping numbers.
Bam Adebayo’s presence in Miami capped his runway, and that’s why he was shipped out in the blockbuster that brought Giannis Antetokounmpo to South Beach. In Milwaukee, the frontcourt is being rebuilt on the fly. Myles Turner still starts the year ahead of him, but the Bucks are clearly shifting toward the future, and Ware is part of that plan.
Expect something like 25 minutes early. Expect more as the season breathes.
In High Score, those 30-minute explosions are the whole argument. A 3-block, 14-rebound line is roughly 23 fantasy points before you even add what he scores. His ceiling games stack up with anyone in his draft range, and because the format only banks his best outing, the quiet nights barely hurt you.
Mitchell Robinson, Boston Celtics
No free throws, no problem
Mitchell Robinson just spent a season reminding everyone what he can do when he’s on the floor. As Karl-Anthony Towns’ backup in New York’s title run, he logged 60 games — his most since 2021-22 — and squeezed value out of 19.6 minutes a night: 5.7 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.2 blocks, and a ridiculous 72.3% from the field.
Boston saw enough to pry him away on a three-year deal. Neemias Queta had a better-than-expected year, and the late addition of Nikola Vučević never quite meshed with the Celtics’ identity. That left a gap: someone who can defend the rim, vacuum rebounds and stay out of the way offensively.
That’s Robinson’s lane.
His body has never really supported a 30-minute workload, and the Celtics know it. But 25 minutes? That’s in play, and that’s all he needs.
High Score formats strip away his biggest flaw — free-throw percentage doesn’t count. The one thing that usually drags his value into the mud vanishes. What’s left is a specialist built for spike games. A 16-rebound, three-block outing is a 25-point fantasy line even if he barely scores. If he catches one of those weeks where he lives on the offensive glass, he becomes a difference-maker without ever taking a jumper.
Nic Claxton, Chicago Bulls
The most complete big in this tier
When Chicago moved Vučević at last year’s deadline, it signaled a reset at center. This summer, they chose Nic Claxton as the anchor for the next phase.
On a young, chaotic Brooklyn roster last season, Claxton’s counting stats slipped: 11.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.1 blocks. The dip on the glass was noticeable, but the assist spike stood out. The ball was in his hands more often, and he proved he could make plays for others.
He isn’t far removed from back-to-back seasons of at least 11.8 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocks. That’s the profile Chicago is betting on, now surrounded by more structured young talent: Caleb Wilson, Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey at the controls.
Giddey’s presence matters. One of the league’s sharpest passers now has a springy, vertical threat rolling to the rim. The lob game in Chicago should be loud.
Under High Score rules, Claxton becomes the most complete scorer of this group. He doesn’t just give you boards and blocks; he can chip in assists and points in a way the pure rim-runners can’t. A 10/10/3 line with two blocks translates to about 32 fantasy points. When that’s your weekly peak, you’re getting top-tier production from a player who often lasts well past the early rounds.
Hannes Steinbach, Charlotte Hornets
A rookie with a ready-made rebounding base
Charlotte’s center spot turned into a surprise story last season. Moussa Diabaté grabbed the starting job in December on sheer effort and rebounding. He delivered on the glass and around the rim — 63.1% from the field — but his role shrank offensively, reflected in a modest 7.9 points on an 11.2% usage rate.
The Hornets clearly wanted more scoring from the frontcourt. They traded for Naz Reid, who should toggle between power forward and center, especially with Miles Bridges gone. Then they used the draft to add Hannes Steinbach, a big with a more polished offensive game.
At Washington last season, Steinbach averaged 18.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks. The production jumps off the page. He won’t walk into those numbers as a rookie, but the rebounding profile translates, and his scoring touch gives him a path to carve out minutes as the year wears on.
In a High Score league with just 10 roster spots, stashing a rookie is a real cost. Steinbach starts the year as a name you track, not one you draft. But if Charlotte’s rotation loosens up — an injury, a trade, or Diabaté’s offense proving too limited — his rebounding alone can become immediately useful. Once the minutes appear, he doesn’t need long to matter.
Day’Ron Sharpe, Brooklyn Nets
A clear path to starting-center upside
Brooklyn turned the page this offseason. Julius Randle arrived to bring some veteran scoring, Mikel Brown Jr. joined through the draft, and Moritz Wagner came in as depth. The most important vacancy, though, is the one Nic Claxton left at center.
Day’Ron Sharpe is first in line to fill it.
His sample as a starter last season was small but telling. In seven starts, he averaged 28 minutes — a big jump from the 18 he saw off the bench. Within that expanded role he produced 11.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1 block per game. The passing, in particular, hinted at more responsibility within the offense.
Randle can soak up some minutes at the five in small-ball looks, and Wagner will have his stretches, but Sharpe is positioned to claim the majority of the traditional center minutes if he holds his own.
In High Score terms, that starter line is gold. It’s worth over 30 fantasy points, which pushes him into top-30 territory for the position — yet he’s still available in the late rounds. He doesn’t need to live at that level every night. He just has to hit it once a week.
Khaman Maluach, Phoenix Suns
The stash candidate who could own the Williams void
Phoenix took a big swing on the future when it drafted Khaman Maluach 10th overall out of Duke in 2025. Year 1 was a slow burn: 46 games, 8.9 minutes per night, a classic rookie apprenticeship.
Mark Williams returns as the nominal starter on a fresh three-year deal, with Oso Ighodaro also in the mix after stepping in last season. On paper, that’s a crowded room. On the court, it may not stay that way.
Williams has battled injuries throughout his career and underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. That kind of procedure can wipe out big chunks of a season. If he misses extended time, there’s a vacuum at the five.
Ighodaro can handle minutes and knows the system, but Maluach carries the higher long-term upside. The immediate target for him is simple: win the minutes that Williams leaves behind and force Phoenix to keep him in the rotation.
In most leagues, managers aren’t bothering. Maluach is going undrafted, and with 10-man rosters in High Score, that’s understandable. He shouldn’t clog your bench on draft night. He should sit at the top of your waiver watchlist.
If the Suns’ rotation opens the way many expect with Williams sidelined, Maluach becomes the first center you pounce on. The question is not whether he’ll get a chance. It’s how quickly you’ll react when he does.
