Dragan Bender News, Discussion and Highlights

[WeekapaugGroove]

I think that Bender is gonna be probably a rotation player in the NBA in his prime...a player similar to Bjelica.

But who wants to pay him for the next five years until he is 26 and plays like that?

The way it's looking the team paying him will be in Europe. In hindsight the best thing for him would have been staying in Europe for a couple years after he was drafted. Hell I kind of wonder if he even would have declared if that draft wasn't so weak.

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[bwgood77]

I was firmly in the pick up his option give it two more years then decide his future when you have his RFA rights in 2020 camp this summer. But man his play in summer league and preseason gives me pause and while I'd still be fine if they pick up his option I also wouldn't be upset if they just threw in the towel on him either.

Yeah, but I think everyone (outside of Ayton, who mostly just finishes and rebounds anyway) is having big problems picking up Kokoskov's offense. Who do you think has looked good or better than they did down the stretch last season?

We know the fundamental problem with this team is the lack of a legitimate playmaker. Booker will be our 1st option playmaker. He Ayton will be a formidable duo when surrounded by three point shooters (Ariza, Anderson, plus one more). Our problem is we don't have a backup playmaker worth a crap. Jackson, Shaq, and Canaan aren't getting it done. Personally Ariza has a done a pretty good job in the preseason with his playmaking so he Booker might be the offensive initiators until we can establish a legitimate point guard threat.

So how does this impact Bender. Bender needs to narrow his focus to a 3-D threat. He doesn't need to be a playmaker yet. Just set screens, pop for three, setup in the corner, play good-to-great team defense, and build confidence as a backup to Anderson and Ayton. So basically, we need to take the options on Bender and for that matter JJ for next season.

Interesting you mentioned that. I was looking at ast/to ratios for our team this preseason and was a little surpised to see he had the best 15/4 or 3.75/1.....and the next two highest which I'm sure will be no surprise to anyone are Chandler 9/3 and TJ 6/2 so basically both at 3/1.

Of course they don't handle the ball a lot so they don't get many assists, but Ariza probably handled it about 10% as much as Jackson who was 25/18...or a little less than 1.4/1.

https://stats.nba.com/players/traditional/?PerMode=Totals&sort=PLUS_MINUS&dir=-1&Season=2018-19&SeasonType=Pre%20Season&TeamID=1610612756

[bwgood77]

As Bwgood mentioned, all of our younger players looked better down the stretch of last year than now. Maybe... just maybe it does have something to do with still learning and picking up the system. Even Bender looked like he could take a step forward if you think abut it then this year just fell flat on his face. If you look up game highlights from Josh (looked comfortable and awesome) and Bender (at least had some good shooting games and looked more engaged). This weaving system really does not demand a dominant pg and kind of lends itself to having a guy like Booker at point (Koko said he tailored his system to the players he had) , hell Ariza looked like he was running point forward in the Warrior game and looked great. Lets see what this looks this thing looks like with Booker and more time to acclimate. lets see who shakes free and if they are a decent option at pg.

Yeah, and Bender, to me, looked much more involved and was constantly in motion last night. Although it didn't translate into great stats (but that goes for everyone on our team) he looked like he was engaged and had a purpose other than standing at the 3 pt line or passing up shots. He even drove a few times.

I think things will look quite a bit better with Booker and another week for these guys to work out kinks. We will have our bad games, and it won't be fun at times, but I think we will constantly be improving. I never really felt that way the last 4 years or so....and before 13-14 the few years before that.

[jcsunsfan]

I think that Bender is gonna be probably a rotation player in the NBA in his prime...a player similar to Bjelica.

But who wants to pay him for the next five years until he is 26 and plays like that?

The way it's looking the team paying him will be in Europe. In hindsight the best thing for him would have been staying in Europe for a couple years after he was drafted. Hell I kind of wonder if he even would have declared if that draft wasn't so weak.

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Bender is only 20 right now. He was way too young to be drafted into the NBA, especially with his immature body (when first drafted). He also had limited experience at the top levels in Europe.

Lesson, don't draft 18 year old Euros with little tape to evaluate.

[bwgood77]

I think that Bender is gonna be probably a rotation player in the NBA in his prime...a player similar to Bjelica.

But who wants to pay him for the next five years until he is 26 and plays like that?

The way it's looking the team paying him will be in Europe. In hindsight the best thing for him would have been staying in Europe for a couple years after he was drafted. Hell I kind of wonder if he even would have declared if that draft wasn't so weak.

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Bender is only 20 right now. He was way too young to be drafted into the NBA, especially with his immature body (when first drafted). He also had limited experience at the top levels in Europe.

Lesson, don't draft 18 year old Euros with little tape to evaluate.

The thing is, they still have hope with Igor he can be salvaged. They are quite disappointed with some of the media out there right now regarding Bender while Igor is working with his confidence, especially Igor, apparently.

[WeekapaugGroove]

I think that Bender is gonna be probably a rotation player in the NBA in his prime...a player similar to Bjelica.

But who wants to pay him for the next five years until he is 26 and plays like that?

The way it's looking the team paying him will be in Europe. In hindsight the best thing for him would have been staying in Europe for a couple years after he was drafted. Hell I kind of wonder if he even would have declared if that draft wasn't so weak.

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Bender is only 20 right now. He was way too young to be drafted into the NBA, especially with his immature body (when first drafted). He also had limited experience at the top levels in Europe.

Lesson, don't draft 18 year old Euros with little tape to evaluate.

Well there was one 18 year old euro with little tape I bet they would have loved to have picked in the Len draft

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[bwgood77]

The way it's looking the team paying him will be in Europe. In hindsight the best thing for him would have been staying in Europe for a couple years after he was drafted. Hell I kind of wonder if he even would have declared if that draft wasn't so weak.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using RealGM mobile app

Bender is only 20 right now. He was way too young to be drafted into the NBA, especially with his immature body (when first drafted). He also had limited experience at the top levels in Europe.

Lesson, don't draft 18 year old Euros with little tape to evaluate.

Well there was one 18 year old euro with little tape I bet they would have loved to have picked in the Len draft

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Yeah, it's a crap shoot. Both Gobert and Jokic are top 5 centers and top 20 players and they were both taken in the 2nd round.

[sunsbg]

For Bender's sake I hope he has more desire to grow vegetables in Milicic's farm than the one he showed to play basketball. What a waste of height and opportunity.

[Kyler Murray]

Bender is only 20 right now. He was way too young to be drafted into the NBA, especially with his immature body (when first drafted). He also had limited experience at the top levels in Europe.

Lesson, don't draft 18 year old Euros with little tape to evaluate.

Well there was one 18 year old euro with little tape I bet they would have loved to have picked in the Len draft

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Yeah, it's a crap shoot. Both Gobert and Jokic are top 5 centers and top 20 players and they were both taken in the 2nd round.

Pretty sure he was talking about Giannis

[bwgood77]

Well there was one 18 year old euro with little tape I bet they would have loved to have picked in the Len draft

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Yeah, it's a crap shoot. Both Gobert and Jokic are top 5 centers and top 20 players and they were both taken in the 2nd round.

Pretty sure he was talking about Giannis

Yeah, I knew he was talking about Giannis (especially also being a Bucks fan, but I guess more of a Suns one if he'd rather have him here), but those guys were taken late as well, and at least one in the same draft I believe.

[WeekapaugGroove]

Yeah, it's a crap shoot. Both Gobert and Jokic are top 5 centers and top 20 players and they were both taken in the 2nd round.

Pretty sure he was talking about Giannis

Yeah, I knew he was talking about Giannis (especially also being a Bucks fan, but I guess more of a Suns one if he'd rather have him here), but those guys were taken late as well, and at least one in the same draft I believe.

I was talking about Giannis but just more pointing out that sometimes a guy with little track record can work out. I consider myself an equal suns and bucks fan but do watch more suns because the early game times are harder for me with the family.

I also wasn't implying that the suns should have taken Giannis in that draft. No one was projecting him that high. Really the guy to second guess with Len is Adams, they weren't ranked too far apart and obviously Adams has turned out better.

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[Jstock12]

Funny how people are writing off a 20 year old 7-footer with range. I'm obviously in the minority, but I think Bender can still become a very solid starter in this league in his prime. Something like 16ppg/8rpg/2apg with 46/38/80 shooting splits + above average defense.

[Damkac]

It will be his 3rd year and he didn't show any improvement.

[jcsunsfan]

Funny how people are writing off a 20 year old 7-footer with range. I'm obviously in the minority, but I think Bender can still become a very solid starter in this league in his prime. Something like 16ppg/8rpg/2apg with 46/38/80 shooting splits + above average defense.

The problem is that we have to decide if we are going to commit $13 million over the next two years, and it has to be decided today. He was just too young. He might turn out but the risk is quite high that he won’t.


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[Jstock12]

It will be his 3rd year and he didn't show any improvement.

Bender was young af when he got here. Put a 12 year old on the Phoenix Suns and see how much improvement he'll show when he's in his 3rd year at age 15. It's similar with Bender.

[sunsbg]

Funny how people are writing off a 20 year old 7-footer with range. I'm obviously in the minority, but I think Bender can still become a very solid starter in this league in his prime. Something like 16ppg/8rpg/2apg with 46/38/80 shooting splits + above average defense.

I doubt even Bender believes it.

[sunsbg]

It will be his 3rd year and he didn't show any improvement.

Bender was young af when he got here. Put a 12 year old on the Phoenix Suns and see how much improvement he'll show when he's in his 3rd year at age 15. It's similar with Bender.

12 year old ? Why not Doncic/Giannis as already mentioned in this thread ? The problem with Bender is that he just doesn't have it. Today he is hiding on the court, tomorrow on the bench.

[Jstock12]

It will be his 3rd year and he didn't show any improvement.

Bender was young af when he got here. Put a 12 year old on the Phoenix Suns and see how much improvement he'll show when he's in his 3rd year at age 15. It's similar with Bender.

12 year old ? Why not Doncic/Giannis as already mentioned in this thread ? The problem with Bender is that he just doesn't have it. Today he is hiding on the court, tomorrow on the bench.

Doncic is a terrible comparison, he already has an NBA ready body in terms of strength (granted could use some slimming down), plus Doncic/Giannis both have a ridiculously tough mindset and a higher ceiling in general. That doesn't mean that Bender cannot become a solid starter. Bigs take longer to develop anyway, they reach their prime at 28-29 years old.

[Jstock12]

Funny how people are writing off a 20 year old 7-footer with range. I'm obviously in the minority, but I think Bender can still become a very solid starter in this league in his prime. Something like 16ppg/8rpg/2apg with 46/38/80 shooting splits + above average defense.

The problem is that we have to decide if we are going to commit $13 million over the next two years, and it has to be decided today. He was just too young. He might turn out but the risk is quite high that he won’t.


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It would be a terrible decision to just let him go. Suns aren't going to be contenders for the next several years anyway.

[bwgood77]

It will be his 3rd year and he didn't show any improvement.

Didn't play much his first year....got injured and played a few games at the end. Improved a lot in year 2, hitting a lot of 3s...pretty much one of our best outside shooters.

Has struggled in summer league and preseason just as Jackson has and most of the rest of the team while learning Koko's new offensive system and playing under his 3rd coach.