Phoenix Suns Center Alex Len Longing To Play For His Native Ukraine In EuroBasket

If Alex Len will drop his final coin on a well for a wish, it would be for an opportunity to play for his native country of Ukraine. The possible entry of the 7-foot-1 slot man of the Phoenix Suns could pose a huge threat to all European teams that will participate in this year's EuroBasket starting in August this year. Ukraine is part of Group B that will have Tel Aviv, Israel as their playing venue.

According to the official schedule released by FIBA, the former Soviet Union territory is grouped with Dirk Nowitzki's Germany, Robertas Javtokas and his Lithuanian squad, Tornike Shengelia and his Georgia team, Andrea Bargnani and the rest of Italy and Omri Casspi's Israel.

Len is not part of the preliminary squad released by Ukraine last year that will compete for this year's qualifiers, as well as long-time national team player Pooh Jeter. The pool includes the twin-tower combination of Viacheslav Kravstov and Kyrylo Fesenko and the returning former NBA cager Oleksiy Pecherov.

The 7-foot Kravstov is currently playing for the Spanish club Valencia BC and had stints with Detroit Pistons and the Suns. On the other hand, the 30-year old Fesenko is part of the Italian club S. S Felice Scandone playing the center position and also played for the Utah Jazz and the Indiana Pacers.

"Hopefully everything works out well this summer so I can get to my country early in the summer," Len told FIBA in an interview. He also added that he's been in talks with the concerned personnel in their federation but he hasn't spoken to his coaches just yet.

The former Maryland Terrapin also disclosed that he's in constant communication with a fellow compatriot in Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, a 6-foot-8 tall guard junior playing for the Kansas Jayhawks in the NCAA Division I.

Selected 5th overall in the 2013 Draft by the Suns, Len is optimistic that the future of his national team is in good hands with a bunch of young guys playing competitive basketball, including him, Mykhailiuk and Utah Jazz's Joel Bolomboy.

Based on the stats from ESPN, Len is averaging 7.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game in just 19.6 minutes per game for the 16-35 Phoenix this season.