The Los Angeles Lakers experiment with Alex Len did not go well in their first try, suffering a 131-119 loss to the Utah Jazz that snapped their six-game winning streak.

Len’s final stats line — 4 points on 2-of-5 shooting, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block in 22 minutes — did not tell the whole story.

His numbers were inflated by garbage time in the Lakers’ blowout loss.

The Lakers were outscored by nine points with Len as their center after Jaxson Hayes went down with a facial injury in the first quarter and did not return. Len’s 7-foot, 250-pound frame did not deter the Jazz frontcourt player from attacking the rim.

The Jazz were 7-of-10 against Len’s defense inside the paint, according to NBA matchup tracking data. Utah’s frontcourt duo of Lauri Markkanen and John Collins feasted against his interior defense with a combined perfect 5-of-5 shooting.

Jovan Buha of The Athletic saw this coming before the Lakers officially signed Len.

“If the Lakers end up with Alex Len, I would not feel comfortable starting Alex Len if Jaxson Hayes goes down,” Buha said on his podcast “Buha’s Block” on Feb. 11. “Alex Len I think is like a fringe roster player right now. So, I’m personally not high on the move. I think the Lakers could probably find a better big.”

But the market for big men has dried up after the trade deadline has passed. So the Lakers settled with Len.

“I get it like optically if they want to just find their big and add that player but I don’t think Len is [that guy]. He is pretty much washed at this point to be honest,” Buha bluntly said.

3 Centers Lakers Should Monitor

The Lakers can still waive one more player to sign a center.

Buha floated three centers who could be potential buyout signing candidates for them.

“As for what’s next, I think the Lakers have to continue to monitor the center market if Larry Nance Jr. or Kelly Olynyk or Chris Boucher become available,” Buha said. “I think they should waive a second player and add one of those big men.”

John Hollinger of The Athletic wrote the Atlanta Hawks may want to hold on to Nance because of his Bird rights that could be valuable.

Olynyk has yet to play for the Pelicans after he was thrown in as a salary filler in the Brandon Ingram trade. He was a key reserve in Toronto playing 15.6 minutes off the bench before the trade.

Boucher’s expiring contract generated trade interest but he remained with the Raptors past the Feb. 6 deadline. Jake Fischer reported on “The Stein Line” on Substack that “there has been no discussion to this point on a Boucher buyout.”

The Lakers may be stuck with Len and hope Hayes will be healthy for the rest of the season.

JJ Redick Gives Alex Len a Pass for Being in ‘Tough Spot’

The brutal loss in Utah showed how fragile the Lakers’ chances this season, despite pairing LeBron James and Luka Doncic with their thin center rotation.

With Hayes down, Len was the next man up but he was not up to the task.

Though Lakers coach JJ Redick gave Len some grace because he did not have the benefit of practice.

“I thought he was fine,” Redick said of Len after the loss that snapped their six-game winning streak. “I mean there’s been a lot of that this year when we just like had to put guys in tough spots. We’ve had to put our two-way guys in tough spots, we had to put Alex in a tough spot. He was fine.”

Len revealed he did not know any of the Lakers plays.

“It was a crazy 24 hours just thinking you’re going one place and then coming over here and getting signed,” Len told reporters. “[I] Came over here and played a game, just tried to stay in the moment and keep things simple.”