Jan 20, 2012; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard (12) and Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum (17) wait for the play to develop during the first quarter at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Douglas Jones-US PRESSWIRE

Today will the final segment where I rank the top 5 players at each of their respective positions! We’ve cover point guards, shooting guards, small forwards and power forwards! Today we’ll be wrapping it all up by ranking the top 5 centers in the NBA as we welcome the final month of NBA free-basketball before training camp and preseason starts next month! So how about we get started!

1) Dwight Howard

- Dwight Howard, also known as “Superman 2.0”. Howard has been without a doubt the most dominate center in the league since Shaq during his prime. Howard is a 7 foot giant that can dunk on 12 foot rim, and runs the floor like a wild jungle cat. Howard’s mobility combined with his athleticism makes him a deadly threat on both ends of the floor, and Howard’s defense has won him 3 defensive player of the year award and a possible 4^th if he didn’t get hurt towards the end of the 2011-2012 season. Howard is also a great rebounder as he placed himself at least top 5 in the league in rebounding rate since 2006-2007 season. Howard often gets slammed for his offense but he’s a career 18.4 points per game scorer as well as a career shooting percentage of 58% so that stuff is clearly overblown. Expect Howard to be in the MVP conversation next season as he’s going to dominate the boards and the defensive end as he always have but now that he’s playing next to Steve Nash it’ll work miracles for his offense.

2) Andrew Bynum

- Bynum is not a far second behind Howard as the best center in the league, however Bynum’s character and desire is often put into question because he’s not consistent on a night to night basis. Bynum is a great low-post scorer, and even though many analysts consider him the best low-post scorer, he isn’t because anyone that watches and knows NBA basketball knows that the best low-post center in the NBA today is Al Jefferson. Bynum still has to improve on certain areas of his game if he’s going to pass Howard as the number 1 center in the league but at this point Bynum is his own worst enemy. The day Andrew Bynum wakes up, looks in the mirror and tells himself “From this point I’m going to work my butt off until I become the best and not get distracted by anything else” That’ll be the day Bynum takes his first step into realizing his full potential.

3) Tyson Chandler

- How this guy didn’t make the all-star team last year I’ll never know. Chandler single handedly can anchor the defense for any team, he’s a great help defender, he’s a great pick and roll defender and he’s also a solid shot blocker. Chandler only averaged 11.3 PPG last season but he also only took about 6 shots a game, now that’s efficiency; speaking of efficiency, Chandler also shot 68% from the field overall. Every team can use a guy like Tyson Chandler, he doesn’t need the ball on the offensive end but he’ll manage to get his points every game off hustle plays, offensive rebounds, 50-50 balls. Chandler is such an underrated big man because he doesn’t have the tools on the offensive end but his defense is absolutely spectacular.

4) Marc Gasol

- Marc Gasol, AKA the other Gasol. Don’t get deceived though, Marc isn’t as good as his brother but he’s not that much worse than him either. Much like Pau, Marc is an extremely skilled basketball in pretty much every aspect of the game. Marc is a great passer out the post, a solid shooter and a good defender. Playing with Zach Randolph and Rudy Gay sometimes limits Marc’s rebounding numbers but he’s not a bad rebounder although his numbers may say otherwise. Marc also has a good motor for a big man his size being capable of playing over 36 minutes a night.

5) Al Jefferson

- Al Jefferson isn’t as known as some of these other guys but Jefferson is a baller and he is the best low post scorer the league’s got today. Jefferson’s great foot work and series of moves allows him to operate well around the basket. Jefferson is also a decent rebounder as he gets about 10 a game and he’s a very good shot blocker averaging about 2 blocks a game. Jefferson hasn’t gotten a lot of recognition for his high level of play because after he was shipped out of Boston in the Kevin Garnett deal he played 3 seasons in Minnesota and 2 seasons in Utah. Jefferson is still recovering from an ACL injury a couple seasons ago, but prior to his injury he was a 20-10 guy annually and is getting closer to 100% by the day.

Everyone’s quoting Carmelo as an example, Carmelo rushed for one, and only one reason — the expiring CBA. He wanted a bigger contract, he got a bigger contract. Here, there’s no rush, and while the teams might send their stars away, the stars have to agree to these moves. And I’m pretty certain that Free Agency looks just so much better to them from the perspective of controlling their own fate.

Now, the Suns have a lot of cap space this year, with Vince Carter’s buyout and Aaron Brooks’ $2 million off the books. But with more contracts expiring next year, and a possible Josh Childress amnesty, the Suns might just be in the frontrunning for two of the Deron-Dwight-Chris free agency team.

Yes, it’s far fetched, but it also might be the best option for those guys. Coming into a team that already has a solid support group; Gortat would probably slide to the 4, and with Jared Dudley starting at Small Forward, assuming that Grant Hill retires, a possible amnesty pick up of the Brandon Roy type at the Guard, and perhaps even Steve Nash playing an off-the-ball sixth man, if he decides to stay in Phoenix, the  Suns would be a pretty dangerous team, with, say… CP3 and Dwight teaming up.

The cap space situation is looking pretty good. Assuming that Childress or Warrick are amnestied in the 2012 offseason and Robin Lopez isn’t offered a qualifying offer, the Suns would have well over 30 million dollars in cap space with the current cap. With the cap possibly rising over 60 million, the Suns would be in prime position to offer two max or ccontracts and then add some pieces to them using the new exception for teams filling the cap and bird rights on the likes of Steve Nash, who I’m pretty sure will be inclined to take much less money to do what he always wanted to do — contend for a championship in Phoenix.

And really, what else would a team with a starting lineup of Paul-Nash(He sure can play off the ball too)-Dudley-Gortat-Howard do, other than win? Not much, really. They’d just be winning.

Unfortunately, it’s time to wake up. Life’s not NBA 2k12, and Lon Babby doesn’t have enough balls to try and call the free agents asking whether they’d be interested in something like this. A dream remains a dream, and an open improbable option…

In the end however, the question is… If Lon Babby actually makes that call, and gets a indicative “maybe”, why not stay put? You might even get a better rookie if you do that.