The Los Angeles Lakers got an unexpectedly long look at Alex Len in his first game with the team on Wednesday. After Lakers head coach JJ Redick announced Len would be available for their matchup against the Utah Jazz, the 12-year NBA veteran suddenly found himself in a feature role that evening.
Jaxson Hayes wound up leaving the game pretty early into the evening with an injury. The Lakers starting center suffered a facial contusion and did not return after playing only seven minutes in this contest.
That injury created a vacancy that needed to be filled. Len was the man who was put to the task.
Len struggles in his extended minutes
The Lakers' newest center was in unfamiliar territory against the Jazz. Including last night, Len has only played above 10 minutes in a game eight times during the 2024-25 NBA season. The 22 minutes that the Ukrainian center logged on Wednesday was his second-highest total of this year's campaign. The only matchup where Len exceeded that was a game on Dec. 26 when the former Sacramento Kings big man logged close to 23 minutes against the Detroit Pistons.
Len finished the night with four points (on 2-of-5 shooting from the field), seven rebounds, two assists, and one block as the Lakers dropped a disappointing 131-119 ball game to the Jazz.
It can certainly be said that the Lakers center was put into a tough spot in this game. Someone who was recently-signed and still needs time getting used to the schemes, teammates, etc. was thrown into a situation where he was now heavily relied upon.
Redick said as much at the postgame press conference, according to Jovan Buha. The Lakers head coach described Len's play as 'fine.'
It is clear that Redick is shielding the newest member of his team from facing too much criticism during his first outing. That is a safe play from the rookie head coach, considering the vicious media market that Los Angeles can be at times.
Unfortunately, it is tough to describe Len's first night with the Lakers as anything other than disappointing. The Lakers big man finished the night with a -9 in the box plus/minus. That was not an accurate representation of how much the Lakers struggled with him on the court.
The Lakers have been outscored by 19 points in the 14 minutes Alex Len has played tonight.
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) February 13, 2025
To some extent, Len should get a bit of a pass. The circumstances were indeed unfavorable. However, the Lakers faced pretty close to what would be a nightmare scenario.
Los Angeles quickly found out that their thin frontcourt is not built to handle injuries, particularly to Hayes. The Lakers have officially played their last game before the NBA All-Star Break. Hopefully that gives Hayes enough time to recover.