Alex Len Signs with Atlanta

[JCSunsfan]

Chandler was supposed to mentor him and help him develop his game further but it just never happened.

I remember initially, Chandler was in awe of how talented Len was and always made comments like “I don’t even think he knows how good he is yet”.

I think Len took the hire of Chandler as a vote of no confidence. He just struggles with consistency. Of course, we really never had consistent play from our guards and it is really hard for bigs to play consistently if the guards do not include them. Igor's motion offense should help some of that. However, Len had flaws too. He had WAY too many of his shots blocked for a seven footer, and he did have some trouble catching the ball.

He is a very good rebounder and had a decent defensive presence.

 

[sunsfan88]

I think Len took the hire of Chandler as a vote of no confidence. He just struggles with consistency. Of course, we really never had consistent play from our guards and it is really hard for bigs to play consistently if the guards do not include them. Igor's motion offense should help some of that. However, Len had flaws too. He had WAY too many of his shots blocked for a seven footer, and he did have some trouble catching the ball.

He is a very good rebounder and had a decent defensive presence.

He just never knew how to use his size. Robin Lopez had this same problem with the Suns where they don’t know quite use their size to their advantage.

“Inconsistent” is probably the best word to describe Len.

I wish him the best. Trae Young will be the best passing PG he’s played with in his career so that could help him as well.

 

[Mainstreet]

Len does not have great hands or court awareness. I believe this lead him to being inconsistent with the Suns.

Perhaps if Young can figure out where to pass him the ball he will be alright. Also not being a consistent starter didn't help either.

 

[mojorizen7]

Len does not have great hands or court awareness.

Probably the single most contributing factor when a top pick busts into a JAG.

IMO

 

[JCSunsfan]

It was time to move on from Len. He wants to start or play backup on a playoff team. The Suns can offer neither of those. Ayton is better and the Suns are not likely to make the playoffs this year. Although they could surprise. This can change quickly and unexpectedly. Teams tend to decline before you think they will--for every team except the Spurs.

 

[Mainstreet]

Probably the single most contributing factor when a top pick busts into a JAG.

IMO

It's true. Some nights it looked like Len had a clue. Other nights he disappeared or looked bad. It will be interesting to see if he plays better for another team.

 

[pokerface]

@pokerface

Oh my...I'm summoned to a Len thread. I suppose its in an attempt to counter the well wishers. Well I will do your bidding because I'm glad that slug is gone. He practically showed almost no improvement in five years...has no instincts for the game...is a fumble fingered foul magnet... virtually never won games for us...da da da. Only the feeble Hawks have an interest in that goof and are still stupid. This guy WASTED our time and you guys wish him well??

 

[AzStevenCal]

Oh my...I'm summoned to a Len thread. I suppose its in an attempt to counter the well wishers. Well I will do your bidding because I'm glad that slug is gone. He practically showed almost no improvement in five years...has no instincts for the game...is a fumble fingered foul magnet... virtually never won games for us...da da da. Only the feeble Hawks have an interest in that goof and are still stupid. This guy WASTED our time and you guys wish him well??

I'm sorry but that's just wrong. He might not be what you want him to be but he improved considerably over his stay here despite piss poor coaching. His rookie PER of 7.3 is dwarfed by his 19.4 PER this past season. I really believe the day will come when fans here rip the organization for failing to use him right and failure to keep him.

With Ayton, we don't need Len, but Alex will be a very strong backup center someday if he doesn't earn a starting spot outright. He'll probably always be a disappointment based on draft position but he's not at bad as this board makes him out to be IMO.

 

[Hoop Head]

I don't know if it's right to say Len won virtually no games for us since he had the highest win shares on the Suns last year, including Booker, Warren, and Jackson, but it was time to move on. I don't think anyone wanted to keep him here. Most of the players that were part of our terrible play the last few years need to go. There are some that hold value like Booker, Warren, and Jackson though and those 3 are the only players I'd like to see stick around a bit longer.

 

[pokerface]

I'm sorry but that's just wrong. He might not be what you want him to be but he improved considerably over his stay here despite piss poor coaching. His rookie PER of 7.3 is dwarfed by his 19.4 PER this past season. I really believe the day will come when fans here rip the organization for failing to use him right and failure to keep him.

With Ayton, we don't need Len, but Alex will be a very strong backup center someday if he doesn't earn a starting spot outright. He'll probably always be a disappointment based on draft position but he's not at bad as this board makes him out to be IMO.

but Alex will be a very strong backup center someday

Don't you kind of give away your sentiment with that statement ? Five years in and we're wishing he could be a suitable "backup"...someday? Like he hasnt even solidified that yet? Plus so he put up some decent numbers on a bad team last season...We had guys MIA all over the place. It's not like he earned his spot...he was gifted it.

 

[pokerface]

I don't know if it's right to say Len won virtually no games for us since he had the highest win shares on the Suns last year, including Booker, Warren, and Jackson, but it was time to move on. I don't think anyone wanted to keep him here. Most of the players that were part of our terrible play the last few years need to go. There are some that hold value like Booker, Warren, and Jackson though and those 3 are the only players I'd like to see stick around a bit longer.

Poop, last season we had the worst team in the entire league and we were missing dudes...plus it was just last season. I was kind of referring to his entire stint here anyways.

Yeah I know you aren't really defending Len but just trying to offer some balance...

 

[Mainstreet]

Len will give the Hawks some tremendous size inside with Omari Spellman, John Collins, Dewayne Dedmon and Miles Plumlee.

Len has his weaknesses (which I have mentioned) but he never had consistent coaching either.

 

[DWKB]

So, is the consensus that Len as a lottery pick was a bust or not a bust?

 

[Mainstreet]

So, is the consensus that Len as a lottery pick was a bust or not a bust?

I guess everything is relative. The 2013 draft was very weak. It's possible Len improves.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2013.html

 

[Yuma]

You would hope a top 5 pick at center would be a 20/10 guy night in and night out. Len's offense never seemed to take hold. That said, with Phoenix over the decades, a 10 rebound, 2 blocks, 10 point average for a Suns center would be enough for the team with the historical shooting prowess from other spots. As long as the defense and rebounding were there, he could have been successful at lower offensive numbers for us. It was those games where he would flash, and you would think, if only he would do that every night!

 

[Mainstreet]

You would hope a top 5 pick at center would be a 20/10 guy night in and night out. Len's offense never seemed to take hold. That said, with Phoenix over the decades, a 10 rebound, 2 blocks, 10 point average for a Suns center would be enough for the team with the historical shooting prowess from other spots. As long as the defense and rebounding were there, he could have been successful at lower offensive numbers for us. It was those games where he would flash, and you would think, if only he would do that every night!

It's those games where Len flashed that many of us thought he might get a better contract offer. Maybe he gets his chance to redeem himself with the Hawks.

 

[AzStevenCal]

So, is the consensus that Len as a lottery pick was a bust or not a bust?

The consensus? Probably. Personally I'd put him in the disappointment category rather than an outright bust.

 

[SirStefan32]

Yeah, I don't really see him as a bust. In my mind, to be a bust, there must be some high expectations. Len was a project when he was drafter, and on top of that, it was a very weak draft. Sure, Oladipo and Porter ended up being good players from the top five, and there were a few gems later on (McCollum, Adams, Giannis, Gobert), but for the most part, that draft was pretty bad.

I agree with Steve in that Len is a dissapointment, but I don't think he qualifies as a bust.

 

[pokerface]

I'm really ticked he didn't make significant improvements to his game. Everyone knows he was a project when we drafted him but he's still being slated as a project. That's terrible!


IMO he earned bust status when no team offered him a contract last season. Maybe he was elevated to "disappointment" because the Hawks took him on now so he has some value...But he had no value in a trade prior. When a team drafts that high and can get no value back...bust.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I'm really ticked he didn't make significant improvements to his game. Everyone knows he was a project when we drafted him but he's still being slated as a project. That's terrible!


IMO he earned bust status when no team offered him a contract last season. Maybe he was elevated to "disappointment" because the Hawks took him on now so he has some value...But he had no value in a trade prior. When a team drafts that high and can get no value back...bust.

That's fair, you can say the pick busted. But Alex Len hasn't. We wasted a pick on him. Whether that was due to poor scouting, poor decision making, poor coaching or poor raw materials to work with, we wasted a pick. But there are busts and then there are busts. The real bust was getting a top 5 pick in a draft mostly devoid of top 10 talent.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I guess it all depends on your definition of a bust. When a team does not bother to try to resign its top 5 pick, I would consider that a bust.

 

[Covert Rain]

I guess it all depends on your definition of a bust. When a team does not bother to try to resign its top 5 pick, I would consider that a bust.

Well...if said player performs at a top 5 level with another team nobody is going to call him that. Having said that, does anybody really believe he will perform like a Top 5 NBA pick? For that reason I could understand someone calling him a bust.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Well...if said player performs at a top 5 level with another team nobody is going to call him that. Having said that, does anybody really believe he will perform like a Top 5 NBA pick? For that reason I could understand someone calling him a bust.

No. At this moment, he is a bust. I suppose that could change, but those kinds of miracles rarely do. We have had horrible coaching. But his bb IQ is hugely suspect. Len would habitually go to his right even though he had wide open space to his left. He would put the ball on the floor in front of tiny guards and get the ball stripped. He would try to make layups when he should dunk the ball. He had difficulty catching and keeping the ball. He got blocked at the rim constantly and by much smaller players (for a 7-1 player who is strong as he is, that is truly mind-boggling).

Len not only did not improve in the areas of weakness, he failed to use what should have been his strengths to any significant advantage.

He could rebound and he had a certain intimidation factor in the lane, but that is not enough to stay on the floor.

I believe it is still possible that he could improve given the right circumstance. I think he was intimidated by Chandler's presence and always seemed to be looking over his shoulder.

 

[Mainstreet]

Len has had a journeyman career thus far in the NBA. He may not have lived up to expectations but he is definitely not a bust.

Here are his stats. These are not the stats of a bust.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/lenal01.html

 

[Hoop Head]

So, is the consensus that Len as a lottery pick was a bust or not a bust?

I'd say a bust. He was the #5 pick and he's not even a consistent starter in the league. It's not because the league has changed either, although that hasn't helped him.

If he was taken at the end of the lottery like #12 or something, I might say he's closer to being not a bust but at #5 there's no other way to spin it. He's a bust for the Suns. If he gets it together in Atlanta then maybe it be can revisited. As is, he can have fun being reunited with Plumlee, who looked great when they were together actually. That first half of the season when Plumlee was starting he looked like a steal but once Len got healthy and started playing some, he fell apart completely.