Top 5 centers of 2017

It's impossible to find a perfect center in today's NBA, since they're asked to do just about everything.

There are the traditional tasks of rebounding, interior scoring, and rim protection. But in the pace-and-space era, centers are also asked to step beyond the 3-point line to hedge, or outright defend mismatches against guards, while also spacing the floor with outside shooting and playmaking.

If those demands seem unreasonable, it's because they are. Nobody in the league adequately meets all of those requirements, and the ones that come closest are usually power forwards playing up a position, like Draymond Green.

You can find flaws in each of the five centers below, but they were all excellent over the last calendar year in their own ways.

1. DeMarcus Cousins

Cousins tends to shoot himself in the foot by losing focus and starting petty fights, but he can do just about anything on the court when he puts his mind to it.

Playing inside is no problem. He bullies everyone (save for Zach Randolph) because he's bigger and stronger. Most defenders resort to fouling him, which explains why he shot more free throws than any other center in 2017. He's also a monster on the glass.

Cousins has become equally comfortable on the perimeter to accommodate his partnership with Anthony Davis. He drills more threes than Kristaps Porzingis, while handing out more assists than Kyrie Irving. He's prone to tunnel vision, but nobody in the league combines brute force and nimble handles quite like him.

Of course, Cousins takes plenty off the table with his bouts of pouting, but those outbursts have been kept to a minimum this season. And now that he's finally playing with semi-competent teammates in a semi-competent franchise, he's on pace to make his first playoff appearance.

2. Karl-Anthony Towns

Towns could easily become the top player at his position if he ever sorts out his weaknesses on the defensive end.

So much of defense, as it pertains to big men, comes down to providing help. Towns has all the tools to be effective, but he's almost comically clueless as to what he's supposed to do. He jumps either too early or too late, he rotates when he should stay home, and stays home when he should rotate. It must drive a defense-first taskmaster like Tom Thibodeau insane.

But he's so good on offense that it's impossible to take him out. He's endlessly energetic, finishes with either hand around the rim, runs the floor beautifully, converts every lob, can back a smaller defender down or face up and drive, and his 3-point release is pure, quick, and accurate.

He averaged 27 points on 57.7 percent shooting from the field with 12.6 rebounds in the final four months last season. Those numbers have dipped this year, but that speaks more to the acquisition of Jimmy Butler than anything else.

3. Nikola Jokic

Jokic is yet another defensively bankrupt center who excels on offense, although his weaknesses are more glaring than those of Towns.

He knows where to be, but Jokic is simply too weak to challenge shots effectively. He inspires no fear whatsoever, as teams make a point to go at him, and rightfully so. He allows players to shoot 8.1 percentage points better when he's challenging the shot as compared to the league average, which is the worst mark in the league.

All that can be forgiven, however, when you take into account what Jokic brings on offense. Denver becomes an absolute juggernaut when he's on the floor because he opens everything on the interior. He makes 37 percent from deep, while making 50 percent on his midrange shots. He clears the paint, which allows the Nuggets' wings to cut in for easy baskets.

Denver posted an offensive rating of 117.5 with Jokic on the floor from January onward last season - a mark better than that of the vaunted Golden State Warriors.

4. Joel Embiid

It's fair to invalidate Embiid based on his iffy health. He only made 34 appearances in the calendar year, and two-thirds of his appearances totaled less than 30 minutes.

You can't be the best if you don't play. That's why Embiid lost Rookie of the Year to Malcolm Brogdon.

But when he does play, Embiid is clearly a generational talent. He fundamentally changes the game on both ends of the floor. He's too big, too nimble, too crafty, and too witty to let anyone get the best of him on either end. He's quietly in contention for Defensive Player of the Year, while also averaging 23.8 points per game.

5. Rudy Gobert

The case could easily be made that a more featured player such as Marc Gasol, Hassan Whiteside, or even Andre Drummond should take Gobert's spot, but there's something to be said about being excellent within a role.

Gobert is a nightmare on defense. He led the league in blocks last season and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting ahead of Kawhi Leonard. Opponents shot 6.3 percentage points worse at the rim with him around last season, and he formed the foundation of the third-best defense in the league on a team that won 51 games.

He was also an underrated contributor on offense. Gobert snagged 3.9 offensive rebounds per game, while also shooting 66.1 percent from the field. He lives mostly off lobs and putbacks, but was one of the best at it last season.