FanPost

Alex Len Not A Rising Star

Alex and Gorgui

Alex Len and Team World C Gorgui Dieng fight for positioning

Alex Len Is Clearly A Rising Star

Alex Len is in all likelihood, a rising star. Len was considered a potential number one overall pick going into the 2013 draft where he was selected number 5 overall by the Phoenix Suns. Just earning that consideration to be the number one overall pick highlights just how great a player's potential is. At 7 foot and 1 inch tall, Alex Len possessed all of the tools to being an high-level NBA center, a position that is very thin these days in the NBA.

Len received mix reception from Suns fans. At the time of the move the Suns roster was an enigma. With a front office ready for a complete rebuild, the mentality was to take the best available player. The Suns had a much more widely known center on the board in Nerlens Noel. They also had a player available who looked like he was an electric wing scorer, something the Suns fans desperately wanted, in Ben McLemore. But for whatever reasons, the NBA scouts and general manager Ryan McDonough came to a conclusion to draft Alex Len out of Maryland.

Len had a horrid rookie season. The 20 year old played in just 42 games, about half of the shockingly successful 48 win team's games. In 8 minutes per game, he average 2.0 points, and 1.6 fouls. Like many young players who are labeled as "raw" or "project", Len essentially failed out of the game, and made quick-to-judge fans (including myself) questioning his true talent and already beginning to float out that dreaded term (bust) associated with high draft picks.

However, in Len's sophomore year things have quickly turned around. Len surpassed Miles Plumlee on the depth chart after the first 25 games of the season and has since started 21 games. For the season, he has only played 20.5 minutes per game, but in these minutes Len has put up 6.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, all while shooting about 57% from the field (14% better than his rookie season) and an about 73% from the line (8% better than his rookie season). He's developed into a very solid defense center, who is altering and blocking shots left and right, and quickly becoming a fan favorite among Suns fans (his jersey currently hangs in my closet right next to Bledsoe and Dragic).

Alex Len is a rising star. He has all the potential to become an elite center in the NBA. He has not only improved greatly from his rookie year to his sophomore year, but he has improved from the first quarter of this season to the second season. However, contrary to the hopes of Suns fans, Alex Len was not selected to the NBA All-Star Rising Stars challenge.

Did Alex Deserve To Be Named A Rising Star?

The format of the Rising Stars Challenge has been changed for those who have not heard. Instead of the classic Rookies vs Sophomores we are used to be seeing, the teams now are Team USA and Team World. So now we can all say Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is a member of Team USA! Team USA is for rookies and sophomores who were born in the USA, and Team World is for the rest of them. Alex Len, being born in the Ukraine, was only eligible for Team World, so let's now take a look at that roster.

G Dennis Schroder (2)

G Dante Exum (R)

G/F Andrew Wiggins (R)

G/F Bojan Bodganovic (R)

G/F Giannis Antetokounmpo (2)

F Nikola Mirotic (R)

C Steven Adams (2)

C Rudy Gobert (2)

C Gorgui Dieng (2)

C Kelly Olynyk (2)

First of all, despite no Alex Len, I will be watching this game. Wiggins, Giannis and Exum sharing the court is pretty awesome considering this incredible potential of those three players. So of this list who could Len have replaced? Well first, the roster already had 5 big men, so it would have to be one of them, as you could not really justify a 10-man team with 6 bigs. Also, the NBA clearly has a split of 5 rookies and 5 sophomores on each team. So the players Alex could have been chosen over would be Kelly Olynyk, Rudy Gobert and Steven Adams

Olynyk Vs Len

First important note here, Olynyk is expected to "miss a few weeks" with an injury. I doubt the Celtics want to rush him back from injury just to play in this game, so there is a solid chance he withdraws from the game, which would open the door for Alex Len. Olynyk averaged 8.7 points and 5.4 rebounds as a rookie. In his sophomore year, his scoring has gone up to 11.1 points, his FG% is up from 46.6% to 50.6%. All of this has come with a 4.5 minutes per game increase going from 20 to 24.5. Olynyk, in his second year, has proven he will at least be a quality role player in this league. However is his ceiling much higher than this? Olynyk was never seen as a "high upside" pick. Olynyks numbers have not gone up much this year. A look at PER shows that Olynyk and Len are nearly identical in this category. However, in the end I am okay with the NBA picking Olynyk over Len. While Len clearly has more "star" potential, Olynyk is a posting the 10th best Real Plus-Minus (If you haven't heard about this stat, I suggest reading about it among centers (one of the most telling stats in basketball in my opinion) this year while Len ranks 35th. Olynyk's statistical production is too far ahead of Len's to justify putting Alex in over Kelly.

Gobert vs Len

Like Len, Gobert was basically irrelevant in his rookie season, averaging just 2.3 points and 3.4 rebounds in about 10 minutes. Also like Len, his play has drastically improved in his sophomore season. In 1.1 more minutes per game, Gobert is averaging .4 more points per game, 1.4 more rebounds per game, and .6 more blocks per game. So discerning the two players is very difficult. Both are playing very inspiring defense for their teams, and have the "star" potential that Olynyk did not have as much as. Once again the argument for Gobert over Len can be made using the Real Plus Minus statistic. Gobert is 6th among centers, just one spot below Marc Gasol. While I think an argument can be made both ways here, Gobert earns the slight advantage

Dieng vs Len

This is a tough comparison for two reasons. The big one, Dieng is 25 years old. 4 years older than Alex Len, so Len has much more time to rise to stardom than Dieng. The other difficulty is the minutes. Dieng has played about 10 more minutes a night than Len so statistically he is completely superior. As a result, per game statistics are not very helpful to compare them. In terms of PER, Dieng's 18.08 PER is better than len's 15.89, but Dieng is ranked 50th among centers in RPM, so either way these two come out about equally. Hard to make a pick here, but Dieng's numbers along with his raw athleticism and excitement probably help give him the nod over Len.

Adams vs Len

You there, person looking to complain how Alex Len was snubbed from the rising stars game, this might be your gold. Steven Adams has started every game for the Thunder this season averaging 7.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks. His 13.65 PER is lower than Alex Len's 15.89. His RPM is 30th among centers, very close to that of Alex Len. Len is averaging slightly less points and rebounds, but keep in mind Len has started less than half of the Suns games and is playing about 5 minutes less per night than Adams. He also has the edge on Adams in blocks per game and FG%. On top of this Alex Len has much more potential than Adams, and clearly has more of the "rising star" appeal to his name. While you can't make a definitive conclusion either way, it is fair to say Alex Len is more deserving of a rising stars game roster spot than Steven Adams.

Conclusion

It's been a while since the Phoenix Suns have been represented in the all-star game, and with our stars being at the PG position, in a ridiculously talented western conference full of ridiculously talented point guards, it will likely be a while. As a result, we naturally are more interested in the other all-star events than other NBA fans, as we just want to see our team represented. Hopefully with this Kelly Olynyk injury, Len is invited to the game and we get to see him amongst the other great young talents of the NBA.