Man, I’m looking at Alex Len’s stats right now, and I’m getting ticked off that no one told me how many points he was averaging this year. 10???? That’s so many. I didn’t think he’d ever hit that threshold, and now he is, like it’s no big deal. But it is a big deal. Especially because he’s not even playing 20 minutes per game. So his per36 rate is pretty damn good. Like, I don’t know if we can call him a bust anymore. Because what busts do you know of that can score 18 points per 36 minutes? And don’t give me some wiseacre answer like “John Wall”. I already apologized like a million times for calling that dude a bust.
If he just got to play more minutes, he’d basically be a 20-10 guy night in, night out. Just like John Collins. Have there ever been two 20-10 guys on the same team before? Because the Hawks had their chance to have that happen, but they squandered it by playing Len so few minutes. You could argue that Collins and Len playing too much together would end up in a serious stats-cannibalization scenario, and you might be right. But you might also be wrong. You never know until you try.
Luckily, I don’t think the Hawks are going to be trying to win any time soon, at least not in the next few seasons, so they have all of next year to try out this twin towers lineup. Maybe even a triplet towers lineup if they keep Tyler Zeller (who I honestly believe can still be good).