The arrival of Greg Monroe upon the completion of the Eric Bledsoe trade has made the limited time Alex Len was seeing on the floor nearly nonexistent. The Maryland product was once touted as a promising building block at the center position, but his development has been slower than hoped.
Len was averaging 23 minutes per game throughout the season, but Monroe's appearance in this center logjam has erased his ceiling completely with Tyson Chandler back healthy. The four-year pro has now logged two DNP-CDs in the last three games as Moose took over the starting power forward job and Chandler kept his at center, making it that much tougher to find a fit with other mouths to feed like Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender.
“I want to be out there and I want to compete,” Len said, according to Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic. “I put in the work hoping to show my skills on the court. So when you’re not able to help your team it’s frustrating.”
Head coach Jay Triano has opted to have solidified veterans like Chandler and Monroe in his frontcourt, admitting it's made it tougher to find minutes for Alex Len.
“It’s been hard to get him playing time,” Triano said. “When you have veteran players in front of you sometimes they’re going to demand the playing time. I have to find ways to get Alex in because he has been good and he’s rebounded the ball for us.”
“I’ve tried to win games and I thought the veteran guys would help us do that.”
But the center logjam won't sort itself out, and if the Suns front office is willing to accommodate Triano's preferences, Len could be the odd man out prior to next year's trade deadline.
“We’ve just got too many bigs,” said Len. “Obviously I want to win for the Phoenix Suns but at the same time when you play you showcase yourself for the other 29 teams. I try not to think about it.”
“I showed this team – and teams around the league – what I can do when I get in there. I rebounded well, I finished around the rim. If coach needs me, I’m here.”
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