Phoenix Suns GM: ‘We’re happy with the production we’re getting’ from Miles Plumlee, Alex Len

The Phoenix Suns entered the season knowing most of their talent lies in the backcourt. They weren’t expecting their big men to much of an offensive load.

The men in the middle were just expected to help out the team’s talented guards with some of the less-glamorous aspects of the game: rebounding, shot-blocking, setting picks, finishing easy buckets down low.

The Suns’ two most-used centers arguably haven’t been flourishing in even those areas, in addition to not providing a ton of scoring. Starting center Miles Plumlee’s numbers are down from last season. His backup, Alex Len, has shown moments where it looks like he will break out, but the former No. 5 overall draft pick still goes quiet for games at a time.

While on the Burns and Gambo show Wednesday on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, Suns general manager Ryan McDonough was asked if he was actively shopping for a big man. The GM didn’t directly answer the question, but he objected to the notion that Plumlee is struggling.

“I think Miles has played pretty well recently,” he said. “He was one of our few bright spots [Sunday] against Orlando. I think he was was 6-for-6 from the floor. He protects the rim for us. He starts our fast breaks. I’ve been happy with his play.”

McDonough then assessed the 21-year-old backup’s performance of late.

“Alex has been up-and-down,” he said. “He’s struggled with his shooting the past few games after having a very good stretch against the Clippers and Celtics when we were on the road.”

McDonough was referring to two of Len’s biggest games of the season: his 17-point, 11-rebound outing Nov. 15 against Los Angeles and then a 19-point performance the following game against Boston. The second-year center has reached double-figures just once since then, and he is scoreless in his last three contests.

The Suns GM weighed in on how the two centers are living up to the team’s expectations so far.

“We’re happy with the production we’re getting from those guys,” he said. “Like with a lot of young guys, we’d obviously hope they’d get more consistent. And I think they will get more consistent over time. But, they’ve done a solid job; they’ve played their role, and they’ve certainly given us enough to win so far.”

Len is putting up 5.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and shooting 54.1 percent in 18.4 minutes per game through 19 appearances. Plumlee is averaging 5.6 points and 5.9 rebounds in 23.4 minutes per game — numbers which are below his pace from last season. However, he is shooting a career-best 53.2 percent from the field, and his blocks average has risen slightly to 1.2, even in roughly one less minute on the floor per game.

After defeating the Indiana Pacers at home, the Suns are 11-8 and have the eighth-best record in the Western Conference as of Wednesday night. Although it’s a solid start to the campaign and similar to last year, McDonough was not content with the team’s performance thus far.

And the blame for the Suns’ modest start can’t be placed solely on the shoulders of the big men.

“I think we all had high expectations coming into the year that we would be a playoff team in the West, and I still think we can be,” the young GM said. “But at the same time, there are nights I watch — just like on Sunday against Orlando — where I felt like we were lacking the edge that we had last year. (Tuesday against Indiana) I saw it again, and that was great to see. And hopefully we’ll see a lot of that going forward: guys come out every night with a chip on their shoulder, and they’re aggressive and physical.”

McDonough added that the team has been too comfortable at home, leading to some losses in what should be easily winnable games, such as the aforementioned meeting with Orlando.

“I think what happens a lot of the time, especially with a relatively young and inexperienced team like we are, there’s a sense that at home you can just ease into the game and flip the switch and get it going in the second half or the fourth quarter or whenever, and that’s dangerous,” he said. “I wish I could say that we’re protecting home court well, but we’re not happy with (a) 6-4 (record). We feel like we should be better than that. And hopefully over the course of the remaining 31 games, we will be better than that and win more than 60 percent of our home games.”