Phoenix Suns: Complete 2017 offseason grades
Contract Sta-Len-mate
Alex Len’s restricted free agency wasn’t resolved until late September, but this wasn’t anything new for the Suns, who didn’t finalize terms with Eric Bledsoe until late September when he was a restricted free agent back in 2014. For a considerably less talented player, it made sense McDonough wasn’t ready to make it rain.
Len’s name is rarely mentioned whenever #TheTimeline comes up, and now that he’s been in the league for four years, his ceiling seems to cave further in with each passing season. He’s already 24 years old, couldn’t surpass Tyson Chandler in the starting rotation despite being a decade younger, has dealt with injury problems and has made little progress in the problem areas of his game.
Furthermore, Phoenix didn’t want to ruin its current cap flexibility, which stands at $14.3 million after Len agreed to play out the 2017-18 season on his $4.2 million qualifying offer. Even something like a three-year, $30 million deal seemed like an overpay that would have left the Suns with an unwanted deal two or three years from now, right when the rebuild should be taking flight.
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If McDonough could have talked Len’s agent down to something in the ballpark of $5-6 million a year, that would’ve been more reflective of his true worth. However, the former No. 5 overall pick would rather play out the 2017-18 season on his qualifying offer and gamble on being able to earn more money as an unrestricted free agent next summer. That’d make more sense for him than settling for a few extra million this year and being tied to that dollar amount for the foreseeable future.
Playing on that qualifying offer is a risky gamble given how quickly the market dried up this summer, not to mention next summer’s loaded crop of free agents, but his objective is to make as much money as a team will offer. That big offer never came with everyone’s cap space dried up, so the most likely outcome was always Len settling for a team-friendly deal or playing out 2017-18 on his qualifying offer.
Either case would’ve been a victory for the Suns, who avoided overpaying for a player that may be replaceable by Dragan Bender or Marquese Chriss down the road. The qualifying offer gives Len one last chance to prove himself, and if he fails, they can simply cut him loose and focus on the future.
Grade: A-