Phoenix Suns: The Alex Len Dilemma
Len’s Signs Of Potential
It’s not just about handing Len opportunities because the Suns need to better understand his value; it’s also that Len has quietly earned them.
His averages for the season — 7.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game on 50.2 percent shooting — don’t really stand out. But as we saw last year, when Len gets an opportunity to play with better players (i.e., starters), his individual numbers are on par with what you’d expect from an average NBA center:
- In 11 starts: 10.1 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 1.8 BPG, 3.3 PF, 58.4 FG%
Even his Per 36 Minutes numbers are encouraging, though his propensity for foul trouble remains a cause for alarm:
- Per 36 Minutes: 13.8 points, 11.7 rebounds, 2.3 blocks, 5.6 fouls
The problem is, as is the case with any stats for a rarely used player on a losing team, the numbers get noisy when you factor in his -4.9 plus/minus for the year, his -7.9 plus/minus in 11 games with the starters and his -9.1 plus/minus per 36 minutes.
More from Phoenix Suns
- 3 NBA superstars with legacies on the line heading into 2023–24
- Ranking the 4 riskiest boom-or-bust NBA teams in 2023–24
- 5 NBA players facing do-or-die 2023–2024 seasons
- Report: Phoenix is considering signing two former lottery picks
- Phoenix’s questionable Deandre Ayton strategy is worth the risk
Per NBA.com, his on-court net rating of -11.2 is second-worst on the roster behind only Brandon Knight, his defensive rating of 109.7 is fifth-worst and his offensive rating of 98.5 is dead last. That doesn’t help his case for being a neglected youngster on the rise.
The Suns’ 27th-ranked defense is 1.1 points stingier per 100 possessions with Len off the floor, and their 22nd-ranked offense is 4.7 points better per 100 possessions without him.
Before Phoenix’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks in early February, Watson touched on the difficulty of getting Len on the court due to an old school skill set that features little shooting range and an inability to defend the perimeter.
"“It’s just the way the NBA’s going — small,” he said. “If you start a seven-footer in the first unit, you really don’t have one to back up. “It’s kind of unique how the game has just flowed in a different way. So it’s not that the minutes aren’t there, it’s kind of hard for him to guard DeMarcus Cousins on the perimeter. It’s just unique and he has to learn that skill.”"
The problem is, how will he ever hone those skills if he’s stuck behind Chandler’s 27.6 minutes per game? That doesn’t seem like a staggering amount of minutes, but they’ve limited Len to 19.7 minutes per game — a negligent amount with his impending free agency in mind.