The modern NBA big man has been through a lot. Specifically, they’ve been through a lot of changes.

For a large portion of NBA history, teams were built around centers. In today’s NBA, only a small handful of teams choose to do so. 

That doesn’t mean that teams don’t value big men. They do. It simply means that in today’s game, big men are more often limited to a specific role. 

For example, take Deandre Ayton of the Phoenix Suns, or Clint Capela of the Atlanta Hawks.

Each of these guys is valuable to their teams, but neither is a focal point of their team’s offense. 

Could they switch sides this season?