Looking around the league as we hit mid-November, one thing that stands out is the amount of centers who haven't lived up to the hype or have simply underperformed so far this season.
Pau Gasol is playing only 25 minutes a night in San Antonio.
Nikola Vucevic is down to 27 MPG in Orlando, and his 10.9 points per game are the lowest since his rookie season in Philadelphia.
DeAndre Jordan's scoring, rebounding and blocks are all down as the Clippers continue to blow out just about everybody they play.
Marc Gasol, a 50.2 percent shooter in his career, has added the 3-point shot to his game, but he's shooting just 42.1 percent from the field in the early going.
Joakim Noah is a shell of his former self, blocking only 0.7 shots per game thus far with the Knicks.
And then there's Al Horford, who has played only three games due to a concussion that has kept him sidelined since Oct. 29.
All of these players are ranked lower this week as a result.
But enough of the doom and gloom.
On the opposite end of the spectrum -- no, not that Spectrum -- is Joel Embiid. What a story he has become in his first month of NBA action. While playing under a minutes restriction that has limited him to 22.1 MPG and caused him to sit the second of back-to-backs, his per 40 minute numbers (32.5 points/13.2 rebounds) reveal what's ahead once his minutes rise and his shot-blocking (2.3 BPG) and 3-point shooting (1 3PG) make him one of the best fantasy centers out there -- already.
We started to bump up Embiid in the rankings before the season started, and he's all the way up to No. 33 this week.
Kemba Walker (No. 18) is another notable riser this week. He is averaging a career-high 25.3 PPG and improved shooting is a big reason why. His days as a poor perimeter shooter seem to be a thing of the past, and all you have to do is look at his 3-point shooting to see that (47 percent, 3.4 3PG).
Otto Porter Jr. (No. 65), Ricky Rubio (No. 74) and Jrue Holiday (No. 76) each make big jumps as well. Porter showed his upside with a career-game against Boston last week, going for 34 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks. He also connected on three 3s. Rubio returned from a sprained elbow and promptly dished out 16 assists and swiped four steals in his first two games back. His return also pushed rookie Kris Dunn way down to No. 144. Meanwhile, the news of Holiday's impending return -- sometime within the next week, says Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry -- elevates him to the spot right behind another soon-to-be returner, Reggie Jackson. With Holiday and Jackson due back any game now, we've dropped Ish Smith (No. 134), Tim Frazier (No. 135) and E'Twaun Moore (No. 147) as all three are expected to see their minutes take a steep decline.
Others notable fallers this week include Denver power forward Nikola Jokic (No. 79), Washington shooting guard Bradley Beal (No. 89) and Memphis small forward Chandler Parsons (No. 93).
Jokic was moved to the bench in favor of Kenneth Faried and played poorly in a reserve role after struggling as a starter in the opening weeks. While this ranking may seem a little high for someone contributing as little as Jokic, part of it is due to his tremendous upside. Beal has missed the last two games due to a hamstring injury and is shooting just 36.6 percent from the field and 29.4 percent from 3-point range. Considering his minimal contributions aside from scoring, it was time to move him down. Parsons hasn't shown much in his first four games back (7.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 1 APG) from offseason knee surgery, and it's clear that he'll need some time to ramp back up to the Parsons we know.
Here is the full rundown of the updated top 150 rankings:
