The Suns should focus on Williams, not Len

Maybe I’ve had a change of heart. Maybe I’m starting to see things clearly now. Maybe it’s the summer heat finally getting to my head. All I know is, with no news still about the re-signing of Alex Len, maybe the Phoenix Suns should focus their front court efforts on Alan Williams, and forget that Len was ever a part of this team.

If you have followed me (Adam Maynes) or Valley of the Suns for any length of time, you know that I have been on the Alex Len band wagon forever (metaphorically). Heck, I even started a fanboy page for Len’s rookie year on Facebook calling for the Suns to put him in their starting lineup. (No joke, two days after I created the page, he was put in the starting lineup. Most. Influential. Facebook page. Ever.)

I still believe that the Suns should re-sign him if he accepts the qualifying offer because you really have no idea if his offseason work will suddenly begin a transformation in his game that will make him an indelible piece of the core move]ing forward. He’s worth at least having around, especially at such a bargain basement price, all things considered.

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However, the fact that he still hasn’t signed the QO has really begun to get to me.

There is no doubt that he and his representation know that the Suns are not going to pull the offer from the table. They know too that there is a chance that a team will suffer a debilitating injury at center which could cause a knee-jerk reaction contract offer that blows the Suns’ basement level offer away. Not only could this happen during the summer ala Brandon Knight and Devon Reed, but it could happen in training camp and even as late as the preseason.

At the moment he is the only starting quality center available and he knows it. He should wait to see about cashing in.

But therein lies the problem that I am having. He is thinking selfishly, and not about the team and franchise that has, to this point, wasted a lottery pick, a whole lot of money, and a roster spot on a player that by all accounts has reached his peak already, a level that just really isn’t all that great.

Alan Williams, on the other hand, has signed a contract that could not be any more team friendly. Sure he gets a boat load of money this season – about twice as much as Len will get with the QO – but he has no guarantee of a roster spot after that. He literally has one year to prove that he is worth the money, and if not – he gone.

Williams is also a guy that is not only a home grown Suns fan living his boyhood dream of playing for his local professional basketball franchise, but he is the hardest working player on the roster, and by all accounts, the most loyal.

Alan has earned the opportunity in this seemingly everlasting rebuilding faze, to play every game, and give every drop of effort and energy to the franchise that he so dearly loves.

Having Alex Len on the roster, who would guaranteed be playing more for a paycheck and the name on the back of the jersey than for the name on the front, would only take minutes and opportunities away from Williams, lessening Big Sauce’s chance at remaining in the Association for another year.

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As I said, if Len wants to sign, from a depth perspective, the Suns would be stupid to not give him a shot.

But as of now, there is no doubt in my mind that they should give Alan Williams every opportunity to play this season, and make Alex Len earn even the most garbage of garbage minutes.

The franchise’s slogan was for the past couple of years was We are PHX.

The fact that Alex Len hasn’t signed yet means that he is not.

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