NBA Centers 2010 Rankings Analysis

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I recently posted the cumulative rankings of NBA centers based on their play during the 2009-2010 season.  I combined five different statistical evaluation methods to create the rankings.  Here are my thoughts on the centers:

• I was certainly not surprised that Dwight Howard topped the NBA centers chart.  However, I was surprised at how close Tim Duncan was behind him.  They were separated by only five points.  Howard ranked first in Defensive Rating, WARP and Simple Rating.  He was second to Duncan in PER and 14th in Offensive Rating.  Duncan gave up the most points to Howard in Defensive Rating where he finished seventh.
• Obviously Greg Oden's ranking is skewed by the fact that he only played in 21 games before getting hurt...again.  He was doing quite well at that point though, finishing third in PER and second in Simple Rating.
• A nice second tier of centers is formed by Andrew Bynum, Al Horford, Andrew Bogut and Nene.
• The third tier includes Nazr Mohammed, Chris Andersen, Marc Gasol, Joakim Noah and David Lee.
• These players surprised me by being ranked higher than I expected - Nazr Mohammed, Ben Wallace and Jermaine O'Neal.
• Those with lower rankings than I expected - Brook Lopez, Tyson Chandler and Andrea Bargnani.
• I didn't realize how strong the Nuggets were at the center position last year until I looked at this analysis.  Both Nene and Chris Andersen are ranked in the top 10.  They were helped be ranking first (Andersen) and second (Nene) in Offensive Rating.
• Looking at the ratings you can see why teams are both hesitant and strongly interested in signing Shaquille O'Neal.  He certainly wasn't the force he used to be but he still finished 22nd in the final rankings and was 14th in PER.
• David Lee should be a nice difference maker in Golden State.  His final ranking is 13th while their top ranked center from last year is Anthony Tolliver at 40th.

Who are your biggest surprises on the list?