This article is part of our Centers of Attention series.
There are only seven weeks left in the NBA regular season. Some teams are making a push to either get into the playoffs or improve their seeding, but others have nothing left to play for other than a high pick in the draft. As a result, the time for tanking has begun.
Many of the worst teams in the league have shifted to giving their young players more playing time down the stretch, leaving some prominent fantasy options at center with murky situations to close out the year.
Here are some players in that very predicament, with breakdowns on what impact it could have on their value.
Marc Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies
The Grizzlies season has been marred by injuries to key players, the most devastating of ended Mike Conley's season after just 12 games. Tyreke Evans has stepped up in his absence, but the Grizzlies just don't have enough depth on the roster to be competitive.
Already among the bottom eight teams in the league, the Grizzlies decided to rest Gasol for Saturday's game against the Heat. He's one of the best fantasy options left on the team, but don't be surprised if this is a regular occurrence down the stretch.
It's a shame the Grizzlies' season has played out this way for Gasol's fantasy owners because they play a loaded schedule with four games each in Weeks 20, 21, 23 and 24. That could have led to some big numbers from Gasol during the fantasy playoffs. Either
There are only seven weeks left in the NBA regular season. Some teams are making a push to either get into the playoffs or improve their seeding, but others have nothing left to play for other than a high pick in the draft. As a result, the time for tanking has begun.
Many of the worst teams in the league have shifted to giving their young players more playing time down the stretch, leaving some prominent fantasy options at center with murky situations to close out the year.
Here are some players in that very predicament, with breakdowns on what impact it could have on their value.
Marc Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies
The Grizzlies season has been marred by injuries to key players, the most devastating of ended Mike Conley's season after just 12 games. Tyreke Evans has stepped up in his absence, but the Grizzlies just don't have enough depth on the roster to be competitive.
Already among the bottom eight teams in the league, the Grizzlies decided to rest Gasol for Saturday's game against the Heat. He's one of the best fantasy options left on the team, but don't be surprised if this is a regular occurrence down the stretch.
It's a shame the Grizzlies' season has played out this way for Gasol's fantasy owners because they play a loaded schedule with four games each in Weeks 20, 21, 23 and 24. That could have led to some big numbers from Gasol during the fantasy playoffs. Either way, he probably won't sit out more than a game a week for now, making him someone to stick with in your lineup.
Nikola Vucevic, Orlando Magic
Vucevic was off to a great start this season, averaging 17.4 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.1 blocks, 1.0 steal and 1.4 three-pointers in his first 34 games. He then went down with a hand injury, causing him to miss almost two months. He hasn't shown much rust since returning, averaging 17.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 2.0 blocks in two games.
The Magic are also in the midst of another lost season and are currently in a six-way tie for the fewest wins in the league. They haven't rested any of their veterans yet, but still managed to help their tanking cause by dealing Elfrid Payton to the Suns at the trade deadline.
Although Vucevic might still get the occasional game off down the stretch, he should still be able to produce enough to be one of the more valuable centers in fantasy.
Enes Kanter, New York Knicks
The Knicks were hoping to be one of the teams pushing for the eighth seed in the East at this point in the year, but the season-ending injury to Kristaps Porzingis (knee) quickly dashed that notion.
The Knicks subsequently became sellers at the deadline and, while they didn't make any significant moves up front, they did deal away one promising young center in Willy Hernangomez.
That means Kanter should be the main man in the middle down the stretch since the Knicks don't really have any young talent behind him that they want to evaluate. Kanter is actually having his best month of the season in February, averaging 15.6 points and 13.5 rebounds through eight games.
Kanter is unlikely to see many nights off for rest over the remainder of the season and should actually be more involved in the offense with Porzingis sidelined. If he's been a valuable member of your squad so far, expect much of the same going forward.
Dewayne Dedmon, Atlanta Hawks
Everyone knew from the start of this season that the Hawks were already rebuilding, so it's no surprise that they have been terrible. Dedmon began the season as Atlanta's starting center, but he suffered a leg injury and came off the bench once he returned. The good news is that he has reentered the starting lineup, starting each of his last four games.
More good news for Dedmon is that the Hawks bought out Ersan Ilyasova over the weekend, freeing up some minutes in their frontcourt. While rookie John Collins is expected to assume a share of Ilyasova's playing time, that also means he likely won't be taking any minutes away from Dedmon. In Monday's loss to the Lakers, Collins started in Ilyasova's place, but he played only 25 minutes.
Dedmon isn't a fantasy star, but he still has some value. In 25 games as a starter this year, he's averaging 11.1 points and 8.0 rebounds while shooting 59.5% from the field. He's also made major strides as a floor-spacer this season, knocking down 32-of-84 three-point attempts (38.1%) after attempting just one three in his previous six NBA seasons combined.
