Over the last few seasons, the Phoenix Suns have constructed a roster around their young core group of players.

One of the pieces to the puzzle is big man Alex Len, who is set to enter his fourth season in the league. According to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, the Suns recently made a contract offer to Len that was below what he anticipated receiving from the team.

League sources said there was an initial offer made by the Suns early in free agency that did not meet Len’s expectations. It’s unclear if the Suns still have a multi-year offer on the table (they did in mid-July according to sources).

The 24-year-old is currently on the open market as he has yet to make a decision on whether he will sign the $4.18 million qualifying offer. However, the expectation is that he will ink the deal and report in time for the start of training camp later this month.

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Keep in mind, the current qualifying offer is set to expire on Oct. 1, but the Suns will still hold the ability match any contract offer presented to Len. This could certainly paint the former first-round pick in a tough corner despite having his eyes set on inking a new long-term deal.

Len is coming off a productive campaign in a limited role where he averaged 8.0 points on 49.7 percent shooting from the field with 6.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 20.3 minutes per contest while making 34 starts in 77 games played.