Phoenix Suns: 5 storylines to follow after the All-Star break

5. Alex Len’s value

When Alex Len was unable to secure the kind of contract he wanted in restricted free agency last summer, his only option was playing out the 2017-18 season on a $4.2 million qualifying offer.

Heading into unrestricted free agency this July, Len needed to have the breakout year Suns fans have been waiting on for years now. With Tyson Chandler being 35 years old, Alan Williams out for the season and Len being in his fifth year, it was do-or-die time.

The results have been mixed. He started off the season as a high-impact player off the bench, averaging 8.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in just 21.9 minutes per game through December. As always seems to be the case with Len though, a combination of nagging injuries, inconsistency and other players stealing his minutes dragged him back down to earth.

Since the calendar flipped to 2018, Len is averaging 7.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 0.6 blocks in 17.4 minutes per game. Greg Monroe‘s arrival to Phoenix cut into his minutes, and even with Moose gone, Dragan Bender‘s ability to play the 5 has done the same — both in the short-term and potentially for the long-term as well.

Alex Len is a useful big, especially as a backup, but he’s not worth tying up cap space this summer. In a tight market, it won’t be a top priority for general manager Ryan McDonough (or any other team, really) to re-sign a former top-five pick who still hasn’t proven himself as a necessary piece in “The Timeline.”

Superior options may quickly present themselves in the draft (DeAndre Ayton, Mohamed Bamba, Jaren Jackson Jr.) or in free agency (Clint Capela).

Maybe another team with interest will snag him on the open market because Phoenix has no interest in upping the ante to keep him. Maybe the Suns will be able to re-sign him for cheap as a backup. Unless something drastically changes in the last 23 games though, that might be the only way Alex Len remains with the team that originally drafted him.