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What should the Phoenix Suns do with Alex Len’s restricted free agency?

By Gerald Bourguet

Mar 17, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns center Alex Len (21) runs up the court in the first half of the NBA game against the Orlando Magic at Talking Stick Resort Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 17, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns center Alex Len (21) runs up the court in the first half of the NBA game against the Orlando Magic at Talking Stick Resort Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 9, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Dallas Mavericks center AJ Hammons (20) boxes out Phoenix Suns center Alex Len (21) in the second half of the NBA game at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Suns won 124-111. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports /

Strengths and weaknesses

The numbers are pretty condemning for Alex Len.

His -5.2 plus/minus this season was the worst on the roster aside from Brandon Knight. Even in Suns victories, he was one of only four players (the others being Knight, Ronnie Price and Elijah Millsap) that still posted a negative plus/minus.

His 99.4 offensive rating was worse than any regular rotation player other than Knight. His 110.5 defensive rating was better than only Knight, T.J. Warren and Marquese Chriss. His -11.1 Net Rating, aside from being abysmal, was better than only Knight and Price.

The Suns were 7.4 points per 100 possessions better offensively when Len was on the bench, and they were 2.0 points per 100 possessions stingier on the defensive end without him. He’s still as foul-prone as ever, committing 5.6 fouls per 36 minutes this season.

Len averaged 5.2 points in the paint per game this season, trailing Eric Bledsoe, T.J. Warren, Devin Booker, Tyson Chandler and Alan Williams. His rebounding and defensive rebounding percentages were third-best on the team, but they paled in comparison to the team’s other two centers:

  • REB%:  Chandler: 23%, Williams: 21.5%, Len: 17.5%
  • DREB%:  Chandler: 33.9%, Williams: 29.3%, Len: 25.1%

In Watson’s wonky, frequently fluctuating rotations, Alex Len was often a casualty. The Suns did not always put him in a position to be successful, not only because he hardly played with the team’s best players, but because they had him trying to do too much.

"“Anytime you have a talented young player who has the ability to do a number of different things, it’s tempting to throw a lot at them,” McDonough said. “So I think one of our focuses will be what can we do in the offseason with Alex that’s game-specific to maybe simplify a little bit, get him really good at a couple of different things at a high level and then try to layer it in year by year.”"

It’s evident to everyone involved Len’s growth will still be a multi-year process, but do the Suns actually want to invest the time and resources?

If Len’s minutes this season are any indication, the answer is no, especially with only marginal improvement based on his time with the starters vs. coming off the bench:

  • Starters:  34 GP, 23.0 MPG, 9.3 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 1.5 BPG, 51.9 FG%, -6.4
  • Bench:  43 GP, 18.1 MPG, 6.9 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 1.1 BPG, 47.4 FG%, -4.2

Len’s numbers went up across the board while playing with the starters, and nearly into “acceptable” territory for an NBA starting center. Unfortunately, his plus/minus was even worse going up against other team’s starting centers, and he hardly seized the moment when Chandler was shut down.

True enough, Phoenix’s starting lineups by season’s end could hardly qualify as the team’s best players, but a look into lineups that might have made Len look better in the plus/minus column do him no favors either.

Of the successful lineups with Len in them this season, only the following four posted a significant enough total plus/minus AND played enough minutes to be worth mentioning:

  • Bledsoe-Booker-Tucker-Chandler-Len:  +16 overall in 39 minutes over 9 games
  • Ulis-Booker-Jones-Dudley-Len lineup:  +13 in 20 minutes over 4 games
  • Bledsoe-Booker-Jones-Warren-Len:  +12 in 11 minutes over 2 games
  • Bledsoe-Booker-Warren-Bender-Len:  +9 in 14 minutes over 3 games

Other than the lineup with Chandler and Len playing together, these are all combinations Watson should’ve tried more often than he did, especially with the emphasis being on the future.

However, there are two noteworthy lineups the Suns would’ve liked to work out better that absolutely tanked this season, both of which featured Len:

  • Bledsoe-Booker-Warren-Chriss-Len:  -59 in 205 minutes over 19 games
  • Ulis-Booker-Warren-Chriss-Len:  -40 in 129 minutes over 10 games

Why are these lineups noteworthy? Because they were two of Phoenix’s five most played lineups this season, they posted the two worst total point differentials out of any five-man Suns lineup, and they all involve essential pieces of the team’s present/future.

In Len’s defense, his horrific numbers were not helped by the fact that he often played alongside Brandon Knight, a plus/minus Dementor who finished with the NBA’s 10th-worst total plus/minus despite missing the last 25 games of the season. In fact, eight of the Suns’ 10 worst Len lineups also featured Knight.

"“The truth is, we have to put him in a better position,” Watson said in early February. “We have to say Alex Len is a skilled big, he can’t be a big that just blocks shots and runs the court. Because he is a skilled big and is talented, we have to make him comfortable on the court. Give him jump shots at the elbow, throw him the ball in the post and we have to have unconditional love and live with the fact that he will not be perfect, but we push toward consistency.”"

Assuming the Suns ignore all the tell-tale signs of an underwhelming talent, and assuming they can simplify the game for a guy who was outplayed by Alan Williams down the home stretch, the question still remains: What would a contract offer for Len look like this summer?