Phoenix Suns: 5 goals for Alex Len in 2017-18
As Alex Len enters a potential make-or-break year with the Phoenix Suns, here are five goals he should focus on during the 2017-18 NBA season.
Whenever #TheTimeline is brought up, names like Devin Booker, Josh Jackson, Dragan Bender, Marquese Chriss, Tyler Ulis and T.J. Warren come to the forefront. The Phoenix Suns are building something special and have a young and exciting core, but as is always the case with that kind of raw potential, it’s too early to definitively label anyone a sure thing, outside of maybe Booker and Jackson.
The vast majority of the fanbase appears to be unified on one thing, however: Alex Len does not figure to be a key part of this fledgling rebuild.
Though he’s only 24 years old, the 7’1″ Ukrainian is already viewed as wasted potential. As general manager Ryan McDonough’s first selection on the job, Len has failed to pan out as a serviceable starter, let alone a franchise center.
In a league that emphasizes lateral quickness, positional versatility and big men who can spread the floor, Len offers none of those things. He’s an old school big with underwhelming lower body strength and middling touch, offering little more than traditional rim protection.
That’s not to say Len is a bad player, but as a former fifth overall pick, an average backup big isn’t what Phoenix had in mind for his career. It’s no wonder that his restricted free agency has been stuck in a staring contest this summer, with the Suns being unwilling to offer anything substantial to re-sign him.
Most likely, Len will enter the 2017-18 NBA season playing on his $4.2 million qualifying offer, which would make him an unrestricted free agent next summer. In a potential make-or-break season for both Alex Len’s future with the Suns and his NBA trajectory as a whole, here’s a look at what his five goals should be for the upcoming campaign.