2018 NBA free agency grades: Hawks bringing in Alex Len
The Atlanta Hawks needed some frontcourt depth after shipping off Mike Muscala in the Dennis Schroder trade. Can Alex Len provide the depth they need?
With the departures of Dennis Schroder and Mike Muscala via trade so far this offseason, the only players left from the Atlanta Hawks‘ last playoff run are Kent Bazemore and Taurean Prince, furthering Travis Schlenk’s rebuilding mark on this team.
With Muscala gone, the Hawks lost a frontcourt depth piece to play behind John Collins and Dewayne Dedmon. In 2017-18, Collins led the team win shares (5.4) and he and Dedmon were the top two in Player Efficiency Rating (PER) on the team. Muscala only posted 2.4 win shares and was below-average in PER, but ate up a lot of minutes as a backup.
With Muscala gone, the Hawks need a new backup in a dwindling market of centers and power forwards. Clint Capela is likely way out of their price range, Greg Monroe is a shell of his former self and the rest of the free agent centers were either bad options or too old for the youth movement in Atlanta.
Enter Alex Len. As the fifth pick of the 2013 NBA Draft, Len never quite caught on in Phoenix. He’s started less and less over the past four years, has only averaged 20.3 minutes per game in the last two seasons and only started 13 of the 69 games he played in last season. But the Hawks decided to take a risk anyway and have agreed to a two-year contract with Len, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo! Sports.
Alex Len's new deal with the Atlanta Hawks will be for two years, $8.5M, league sources said. https://t.co/AI3O0gqura
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 21, 2018
With this move, the Hawks are getting a slightly cheaper, and possibly better, version of a backup center than they had in Mike Muscala. Alex Len has actually improved over the last three seasons offensively – his Offensive Rating (according to Basketball-Reference.com) has gone from 96 (2015-16) to 108 (2016-17) to 121 (2017-18).
Offensive Rating is measured per 100 possessions, but despite Len’s reduction in minutes the last three years, the potential for him to be a solid contributor is still there. His per 36 minute numbers agree too, as he posted a career high 15.1 points, 13.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists per 36 minutes in 2017-18.
Len won’t be used to stretch the floor and shoot the 3 like Muscala did, but overall Len is efficient around the basket. He has the stats to show that he’s a better rebounder than Muscala as well.
| Player | Season | G | GS | FG% | eFG% | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Len | 2017-18 | 69 | 13 | .566 | .567 | .684 | 7.5 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 8.5 |
| Mike Muscala | 2017-18 | 53 | 7 | .458 | .558 | .919 | 4.3 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 7.6 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/23/2018.
His total rebounding percentage over his career has been 17.1, meaning when he’s been on the floor, he’s been responsible for 17.1 percent of all rebounds. He’s improved that number in each year of his career, grabbing 19.8 of all rebounds when on the floor last season.
Alex Len shouldn’t be counted on for key moments for the Hawks, but should be able to play the same role that Mike Muscala had played the last few years. There will be some slight sacrifices offensively for the team, but Len should help defensively.
Next: 2018 NBA free agency tracker: Grades for every deal so far
Grade: C+