How you see the future roles of Bender and Chriss?

[Damkac]

It's early but let's guess - what roles Bender and Chriss will have on the team in your opinion?

[NTB]

This year or in the future? I'll answer this based on the future.

Chriss at C and Bender at PF. Both starters.

[dremill24]

They will play in the frontcourt. Next question.

[Damkac]

This year or in the future? I'll answer this based on the future.

Chriss at C and Bender at PF. Both starters.

I'm asking about future.

[MathiasPW]

I see us developing a team in the mold of the Harden Rockets. Bender and Chris would be Ryan Anderson and Trevor Ariza on steroids crashing boards and finishing whatever play Booker and Bledsoe or our next drafts PG come up with.

[jcsunsfan]

This year or in the future? I'll answer this based on the future.

Chriss at C and Bender at PF. Both starters.

That's a really interesting, athletic front line with Warren (or whoever) at the SF. Chriss seems to improve every game, even defensively.

[bwgood77]

I picked Chriss at center and Bender at PF. But they will be interchangeable I believe, and sometimes we could probably still play them with another big. It's just awesome that they both can hit 3s and block shots. That is rare. They used to say a guy like Serge being able to do both...he was one of the only guys to do that.

We now have two, and one is a great passer and perimeter defender and the other is a great finisher and looks like he might actually end up being a good rebounder (which is strange considering people were saying he was the worst rebounder in NCAA history or whatever they were saying). Obviously it's just the preseason so I am taking the results with a grain of salt, but if you can finish and hit 3s and block shots, those things won't go away much. Rebounding? Maybe.

[NTB]

We were hoping that Alec Brown can provide 3pt shooting and blocking...

[bwgood77]

We were hoping that Alec Brown can provide 3pt shooting and blocking...

I wasn't expecting much out of him. I know someone kept hanging onto his "potential". I won't name any names though.

[kennydorglas]

They can play everywhere in 3-4-5... so who really knows? Anything can happen here.
Probably Bender 4 and Chriss 5 being the supreme small ball 5 but I can see they rotating like crazy in every game.
This type of versality is just killer. Ask GSW

[DRK]

I think Bender at either 4/5 would be his best position. Hes shown he can cover and switch onto guards in the PnR rely really well.
Our defence in the last few seasons was dreadful because our bigs defended the pick and roll really poorly. We saw in the finals how important Tristan Thompson was to the Cavs on D because unlike Love, he could switch onto Curry/Thompson and defend them well.

Both Bender and Chriss are known to be versatile on the offensive side, but I think it's their versatility on the defensive side of the ball which will be most important to the team in years to come

[Saberestar]

This year or in the future? I'll answer this based on the future.

Chriss at C and Bender at PF. Both starters.

This.

[Damkac]

I didn't watched game against Dallas so I have questions to those who watched it: did Chriss played most of his minutes at center? How did he looked against Bogut? I mean I know he looked very good but based on that game do you think he could play at center full time? Can he deal with bigger and stronger opponents?

[asudevil]

I'm torn on this.

I'd love to see Chriss at the C and Bender at the PF.....but where does that leave Len? I'm not saying that Len should start at C, nor even implying that the suns should resign him. But if the future is Chriss/Bender, then what do the suns do with Len NOW. He's an RFA after this season, so this means they should trade him soon. What type of player should they go after, and what kind of package should they muster to bring back a star player?

[NTB]

I'm torn on this.

I'd love to see Chriss at the C and Bender at the PF.....but where does that leave Len? I'm not saying that Len should start at C, nor even implying that the suns should resign him. But if the future is Chriss/Bender, then what do the suns do with Len NOW. He's an RFA after this season, so this means they should trade him soon. What type of player should they go after, and what kind of package should they muster to bring back a star player?

If we keep Len, he can be Chriss' backup.

[Bogyo]

I also see them as starting frontcourt. Dunno who plays what, in the future as they are just 18yr kids.
I can see Bender something between AK47, prime Hedo, Dirk-lite, a more silled, better defender Ryan Anderson. If he bulks up a bit he could be a better version of our new coach -Memo Okur, or a new-era Vlad Divac (with all that playmaking and ballhandling)... He could also be a super-sub ath all frontcourt positions playing about 30 MPG, if he does not develop that well enough to be a starter. Good to have one of those with such high bbal IQ.

Chriss is more likely to become the "prototypical" modern PF, or C depending the other 2 players around him. A bit smaller Amare, or a bulkier Rashard Lewis with more D, or a better shooting/smarter Josh Smith, with a touch of Ibaka here and there...
Really these kids are just too young to say anything for sure. Thats the fun part of it.

From what I can see they both have the talent and the head on their shoulder to become really good players (quality starters) in this league. Let's hope the other variables allow this to happen (coaching, injuries, ownership/management decisions, mental/business part of the game, etc...)

[ATTL]

I think Chriss will be the starter and Bender will back up every front court position depending on the player coming out.

[LukasBMW]

I think it completely depends on how the NBA evolves over the next two years.

GSW is built to run and gun and is very very weak on the inside. If they again blow teams out this year while other run and gun teams like Portland rise in the standings, then I think it is very possible that Chriss ends up being our 5 and Bender ends up being our 4 and we surround them with shooters. Maybe we keep one traditional big guy to come in and be a Bogut to play "big" at times.

If GSW is exposed this year and slower/bigger teams that play tough D and pound the ball inside are the ones that end up winning playoff games, then I think we need to use a traditional lineup and

Essentially it comes back to the argument: Is Amare a 5 or a 4? Is Marion a 4 or a 3?

The Amare/Marion/JJ/Q/Nash lineup was great in the regular season, but we could never win in the post season.

I think that the Kurt Thomas/Amare/Marion/Bell/Nash lineup was our best balanced team. If that team had stayed healthy and we had added a few more role players AND stupid D'Antoni had used more then a 7 man rotation, I think we win a championship.

So, my money is on a BIG team that can defend and rebound as well as light it up from the outside. Chriss can be a stretch 4 but he can also attack. That's huge!

Bender can either be our 6th man swiss army knife with s Boris Diaw role, or he can maybe become a Dirk type SF.

[TASTIC]

The more I think about it the more I think/hope Bender turns out like Detlef Schrempf.

That guy was a beast at SF/PF and handled like a guard. Bender's clearly got a LONG way to go but worth noting Det didn't average double figures until his 4th season, so hopefully we show patience with the Dragan.

Chriss....Eesh, who knows how high is ceiling his. He's already got some nice highlights and that 3pt range everyone covets. Rasheed Wallace maybe?

[Zelaznyrules]

They may not be completely ready but as far as I'm concerned they are our front court of today. No need to let them watch from the bench, throw them into the deep end and let them learn to swim. We already know that Tucker and Dudley aren't going to keep us afloat. And no need to label Bender or Chriss in this era of position-less basketball.