#6. Alex Len
After five seemingly laborious seasons with the Phoenix Suns, with whom he was drafted at #5 overall, Alex Len broke out with the best season of his career last year with the Atlanta Hawks.
Len, who is still only 26, played in the second-most games of his career with 77 while logging the third-highest minutes load of his career at 1544.
Though Len’s low-usage, high-efficiency season of 2017-18 might be the favorite of true stat-heads, fans of counting stats will surely appreciate Len’s efforts last season for the Atlanta Hawks: 11.1 points per game, 5.5 rebounds per game, 1.1 assists per game and 0.9 blocks per contest, according to Basketball Reference.
Considering the lack of proven depth at the center spot in 2019-20, Len should be expected to be the team’s opening day starting center, with options such as rookie Bruno Fernando, Warriors castoff Damian Jones and franchise stalwart John Collins serving as the backup to Len as the team’s starting center.
Len, with his huge size and length, proved to be an attractive play finisher for the Atlanta Hawks last season – especially playing alongside a savant-level passer in Trae Young. Per PBPStats, Len was Young’s third-favorite assist target last season with 68 assists to Len. Collins was first with 163 and Dedmon was second with 97.
Perhaps most notable for Len was his newfound three-point stroke, which he used to his advantage last season by knocking down 36.3 percent of his triples on over 200 attempts – easily a career-high.
Len is setting his sights high (on a potential Most Improve Player award), but even if he doesn’t hit that lofty mark, he’ll still be one of the best players on the Atlanta Hawks next season.