2026 Hall of Fame Nominee: Tyler Zeller

[Rog]

The 102nd nominee of the NBN Hall of Fame, Tyler Zeller, is the fifth from the stacked 2026 class. Zeller was a non lottery pick who blossomed into one of the best from his class. Was he good enough to be a truly elite of the elite center, or does he fall just short? Lets take a look. 


Career Stats
33.6 MPG, 16.9 PPG, 11.4 RPG, 2.9 BPG, 1.4 APG, 1.8 TOPG on 43% from the field, 79.3% from the line, and 25% from three

Best Season
Pacers(2015) - 20.0 PPG, 13.0 RPG, 3.6 BPG, 1.8 APG, 1.0 SPG, 1.7 TOPG on 41.5% from the field, 85.2% from the line, and 22.6% from three

Career Highs
Points: 45
Rebounds: 29
Assists: 8
Steals: 6
Blocks: 13

Achievements
Championships: 0
Player of the Game: 134
Player of the Week: 0
Player of the Month: 0
Double Doubles: 696
Triple Doubles: 4

Career Leaderboard Ranking
Blocks - 11th
Points - 95th 
Double Doubles - 17th

Awards
2015 - All-League Second Team
2015 - All-Defensive Team
2018 - All-Star Game Participant




Arguments For Induction
- Zeller wasn't exactly the most awarded player in league history, but he does have an All-League 2nd Team, an All-Defensive First Team, and played in an All-Star Game as well. 

- One thing that has gone on the last 15 seasons is a total decline in post scoring, since the Chris Webbers and Tim Duncans of the world, guys like Tyler Zeller and Brook Lopez have been the elite post scorers in the league. And Zeller didn't quite reach the heights of Brook Lopez, but he was just as damn consistent. He averaged 16.9 PPG for his career but from the time of his third season to his 4th to last he was consistently over 18 points a game and even averaged over 20 points in four seasons of his career. 

- While not a lot of defensive accolades or crazy good stats, Zeller was absolutely a great defender. He carried an 'A+' rating for his career for the majority of the time. He averaged 3.8 stocks per game in his career as well as garnering the one All-Defensive team nod. In his prime he was constantly averaging 3.4+ blocks and around 1 steal a game, for 4.4 stocks per game. All three are great numbers and would be All-Defensive team candidates in the here and now. He also finished 11th in blocked shots, another testament

- While not an amazing rebounder, Zeller held up his own pretty well. He had 8 seasons in his career where he averaged over 12 rebounds, which to me is the basis for a "good" rebounder, and anything lower than that is a negative. He doesn't rank high in rebounds, but is 17th in double doubles which is pretty nice. 

- Overall, despite his somewhat lack of awards you have to feel like he really is a Hall of Famer. He was a 18 point, 12.5 rebounds, 3.5 blocks, 1 steal guy throughout his 8 or 9 year peak. In this league right now, with the lack of scoring from bigs, that is Hall of Fame numbers. Couple with his fantastic defense and the overall success he had in his career without an actual title, you have to appreciate it enough to induct him, right?

Arguments Against Induction
- The lack of awards are absolutely point one, and absolutely enough to put him out of the realm of possibility to induct. Its been a thing for every nominee, and he certainly fits the bill pretty easily here. 

- His lack of rebounding is a serious issue. Sure, most of the time he was over 12 rebounds a game, which certainly is a solid number. But it isn't a true positive or help for his case here. He also had enough seasons under 12, including his career number, that some might even consider it a detriment to his case here. 

- There are also several things that stand out as, sure he was good at those things, but good enough to be a Hall of Famer? I don't think so. Good scorer, but never great outside of those few years he averaged over 20. Finished 95th in points, that is not Hall of Fame worthy. Not enough defensive awards, while right now he would be a good shot blocker, compared to his contemporaries he rarely got on top 10 list. And flat out was not a good passer and his assist to turnover ratio was negative.

- Overall all this adds up to a good player who so many teams would love to have but not quite a guy that is among the elite of the elite. While his stats at time show a different picture, his overall picture shows a role player who could play a nice role, but wasn't a star. He didn't have nearly a long enough 20 point, 12.5 rebound, 3.5 block peak that would have put him easily in the Hall of Fame if he had extended it out to 6-8 seasons long while remaining the consistent 17 point, 12 rebound, 3 block guy he was for the most part. Oh well. He falls just short. 


Vote carefully, and remember to throw out arguments regardless of which side you're on. This should be a discussion that eventually gets the league to the proper decision on him. Your vote can also be retracted after it's been cast if you feel like switching to the other side based on the arguments that have been made. To be inducted, a player needs 70% and to be considered in a later class they need 50%. Vote carefully.


***BONUS - Don't forget that everyone who votes gets $25 and the person that makes the best argument or contributes to the discussion the best will be awarded an extra $25***

[Rog]

Tyler Zeller Player Page

[yourkers15]

Good player but feel he wasn't great. He did score but usually was not the great of %s as seen by his 43% for his career. I feel at times he really hurt a team more than help. Add on the fact that he was traded from the kings to get Wiggins. Wiggins got the hardware as Zeller doesn't.

[JCog72]

I think yourkers has some great points. I think he was solid but he shot the ball a lot on solid %s. Lack of rebounding and awards lean me in the no direction...this is close though

[Rog]

I don't think this is close. Outside of a few amazing seasons, he was mostly a role player and absolutely not Hall of Fame worthy in my opinion. Great player, would have loved to have him but is two tiers short of Hall of Fame to me.

[lynchcats]

Zeller lacks the awards that Mirotic has. If Zeller had the awards that Mirotic had, it would be much easier to vote yes. But I can't vote yes.

[Bay]

Amazing shot blocker but that's enough to get a bid into the Hall. If he was more dominant defensively or a better offensive player I think he'd have more of an argument. Pretty easy no.

[carmelo115]

Really good player, but not HOF worthy

[pjclippers]

Decent stats but not the upper echelon of player that deserves a place in the HOF

[don1955]

decent player, just not HOF worthy, no for me

[Charles]

I do like the blocks and FT% but man he took a lot of shots to score those points which kinda hurt his value.

[bigthunder]

Nope, pretty solid player but not quite good enough for HOF.

[afro]

Hell No! Still can't believe he got traded for Wiggins 😩😩

[A. Silver]

Good numbers on bad teams doesn't really do it for me. If he had better rebounding then I'd probably vote yes.

[vanimmer]

another no for me