He is one of the greatest players in NBA history, and he suited up for Portland long enough for them to win their first and only championship. Despite his condensed career, many consider him one of the best big men ever.
Less than a decade later, Portland had a chance to draft another generational center but missed due to a coin flip, and a couple of years later, thought they finally had their new superstar big man, only to be left empty-handed due to an international conflict. One of the best (if not the best) current big men in the league was drafted in the second round, and Portland could have drafted him if they had not traded away all of their picks in the 2014 Draft.
In the current timeline, Portland only had Bill Walton in his prime, but in an alternate reality, they could have had Walton, then Hakeem Olajuwon, then Arvydas Sabonis, then Nikola Jokic. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was drafted a year before the Trail Blazers were founded, but if Portland had existed in 1968-69, they definitely would have had the option to draft him, so we’ll rope him into this conversation as well.
Walton was not as stocky as some other centers, but the dude played with a ton of heart and lived on a diet of tree bark and room temperature tea made from random stuff he found in the woods, so the fact that he had muscle is impressive.
Walton’s best season was 1978 when he was selected as MVP of the league despite missing something like 20 games to close out the season. You would have to outperform the entire league to sit for the season’s final quarter and still have almost 10% more votes for MVP than the next guy.
In 1978, Walton averaged 18.9 points, 13.2 rebounds, 2.7 blocks, 5 assists, 1 steal, and just 2.5 fouls.
By the time Walton won his first and only MVP, Kareem was working on his 6th MVP award, which he would win the following year. Kareem was the league MVP in 1971-72, 74, 76-77, and 1980. He won them all before he turned 30. By comparison, Michael Jordan won five MVP awards; his last one was when he was 34. It’s no fluke that Kareem is often talked about as one of the greatest all-around players ever.
Kareem averaged 26.2 points, 13.3 rebounds, 3.2 blocks, 3.9 assists, 1.2 steals, and 3.2 fouls for his third MVP award.
Hakeem Olajuwon would have played the first part of his career in a Portland jersey if a certain coin had landed just a bit differently in 1984. The Blazers didn’t get Hakeem, and instead got someone else – we will leave it at that. Hakeem would be a superstar almost from the time he stepped on the court in his rookie year, playing as a forward in the Rockets’ twin towers sets with Ralph Sampson (who was drafted first overall a year prior). Olajuwon was a generational star and one of a handful of players capable of pushing around the 1986 Boston Celtics. Hakeem was routinely in the MVP and DPOY conversations, but only won one MVP and won DPOY multiple times, including winning both in 1994.
In Hakeem’s MVP season, he averaged 27.3 points, 11.9 rebounds, 3.7 blocks, 3.6 assists, 1.6 steals, and 3.6 fouls.
Arvydas Sabonis was one of the greatest international players of all time, and even when he got to the NBA with injury and weight (and age) issues, he was still one of the elite big men. Considered by many to be the original unicorn, he could run and space the floor, shoot from a long distance, have great hands and passing skills, and, with his size, hold his own against the bigger and stronger centers. He is one of just a handful of guys who could keep Shaq in check; I would love to see what Sabas could have done with two good knees in his late 20s.
By the time he got to Portland, he was a 31-year-old rookie with high miles and trouble keeping up with his conditioning. He still put together great games, but he lacked the unique quickness he had in his youth, making him a generational talent.
In his 1992 season, Sabas averaged 21.8 points, 13.3 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, 2.3 assists, 1.2 steals, and 3.3 fouls. Are you wondering how that would have compared to the NBA competition? In his rookie year, three years later, he averaged 14.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, 1.8 assists, 1 steal, and 2.9 fouls. He had better seasons as he got acclimated to the NBA game, but he was older and less versatile by then, so it’s really tough to grade him. If you watch his highlights in the 1988 and 1992 Olympics, you can better understand how incredible prime Sabas could have been stateside.
Nikola Jokic is widely considered the best big man in the business today, and his performance on the court and on the stat sheet leaves zero questions why. The only question is where he would be if he had another all-time center to play against? This might be the first era I can recall where there weren’t at least two all-time great centers in the league. It’s possible one of the younger centers will elevate their game and prove themselves to be in the all-time conversation, but right now, Joker is on a level all by himself, making it challenging to grade him honestly.
Jokic has three MVP awards so far, and we will find out where he lands in this year’s voting next month. In his 2024 MVP season, he averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds, 1 block, 9 assists, 1.4 steals, and 2.5 fouls.
Of the other centers on the list, Jokic is the only one who won’t be remembered for being a great defender, but he does enough on that end to get by. One could argue that his team needs his scoring and passing more than they need him to exhaust himself in getting every block or steal. Still, surprisingly, a guy with his dynamic abilities doesn’t have more defensive stats or recognition.
18.9 points, 13.2 rebounds, 2.7 blocks, 5 assists, 1 steal, and 2.5 fouls.
26.2 points, 13.3 rebounds, 3.2 blocks, 3.9 assists, 1.2 steals, and 3.2 fouls.
27.3 points, 11.9 rebounds, 3.7 blocks, 3.6 assists, 1.6 steals, and 3.6 fouls.
21.8 points, 13.3 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, 2.3 assists, 1.2 steals, and 3.3 fouls
26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds, 1 block, 9 assists, 1.4 steals, and 2.5 fouls.
If I had to choose one player from this list to crown as the best center in Portland’s collective timeline, I would have to award Olajuwon’s 1995 season. As much as I love Walton’s game and how dominant he was in the first couple of seasons of the league post-merger, he didn’t do anything head and shoulders above his competition. Walton was a monster in the middle on both ends and did many things well, but his production just doesn’t jump off the page when you compare it to some of the greatest centers in the modern era.
Hakeem leads the group in three key categories and is within striking distance of the leaders in the other three categories. The Dream was truly the complete player, and that’s not a knock on anyone else. Joker has impressive offensive stats, but he doesn’t do enough on the other end, given that only his assist totals are exceptional for a big man in a league lacking competition.
Kareem was probably the better player side by side with Hakeem, but if we’re only looking at the best season either player had in their time on the court, I have to side with Hakeem. Sabas is a fun story and one of the greatest what-if moments in NBA history, but we simply can’t know if he would have been as much of a superstar if he had been able to play here in his younger days. Plenty of NBA players saw him up close during international competition. Clyde Drexler even implied that Portland would have won multiple championships if he had been here during Drexler’s prime, but that doesn’t make it a given.
In the end, I think Hakeem is the best center on this list. He had all the tools on the court and in the stat sheet, and he could shut down opposing players while keeping them busy when he was on offense.
As much as I would love to see Walton and Sabas have a longer career in Portland or to see Kareem in a Blazers jersey, if I could only go back and put one of them on the team I would get that darn coin toss to go our way in 84, it would solve so many broken timelines all at once. Joker can stay in Denver, no matter what he does or how many MVPs he wins, he can’t escape the 2019 Western Conference Semifinals.
