There’s little glory in being a backup big, especially when the guy you’re backing up is one of your team’s best players. The best backup bigs make a name for themselves with their hustle and energy, coming in off the bench to provide some good defense, rebounding and the occasional bucket. Scot Pollard is a fan favorite to this day for his role as a hustle big back in the glory days despite only ever averaging about 6 points a game.
Alex Len has been on the Kings for four seasons now, including the last three in a row, mostly as a backup for Richaun Holmes and then Domantas Sabonis. His stats are pedestrian, averaging just 2.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.7 blocks in 9.3 minutes a game this season, but he was a positive for the Kings when he came in to relieve Sabonis.
Despite seemingly winning the primary backup big role towards the end of last season, Coach Brown tended to go back and forth between Len and the newly added JaVale McGee at the beginning of the season. Len eventually fully won the role over the older McGee about midway through the season and kept it because of his consistency. McGee tended to be flashier but also more erratic, whereas Len was quiet, steady and more importantly, effective in his limited minutes.
As one of the only true rim protectors on the team, Len gave the Kings a much different look than when Domantas Sabonis was in. Defensively, the Kings were 11.4 points per 100 possessions better defensively with Len in the game, by far the biggest on-off defensive impact of any single Kings player. Len’s size and length actively deterred opponents around the basket, and he actually posted a career-high block rate of 6.8% this season. Per NBA.com, opponents shot 8.7% worse from the field than average when they were within 6 feet of the basket and guarded by Len.
Len was also a positive for the Kings offensively, with the Kings offense performing about 3.3 points per 100 possessions better with him on the floor, giving him a total net rating of +14.7, the best on the team per Basketball-Reference. Sacramento’s offense tended to be more guard and Pick & Roll oriented when Len was in the game, and most of his offense came from finishing off dunks as the roll man or hitting the short jump hook in the paint (86.4% of his total attempts came from within 10 feet).
It’s not that Len can’t shoot from outside, as he has clearly demonstrated an ability to be able to hit the occasional jumper. There was one memorable shot late in the season against the Lakers where he faked a dribble hand off and instead turned and shot from just inside the three point line to hit a long jumper at the end of a quarter.
Len has shown in the past, particularly in his final full season in Atlanta where he shot 36.3% from three on 204 attempts, that he can hit the outside shot, but his time in Sacramento has largely seen him avoid that. Under Mike Brown, Len has only shot five total threes and not made any.
Len enters the offseason as an unrestricted free agent and while much of the focus is on bringing back Malik Monk, I would like to see the Kings bring back Len too if they can. He’s not flashy, but he’s reliable, knows the team and the system, and he probably won’t be too expensive.
