Is Dragan Bender a bust?

[azcatz11]

What are your thoughts? My take is that he’s 7ft1 and basically doesnt offer anything much outside of shooting 3’s.

Asking if a 20 year old is a bust. Awful thread

Anthony Bennett was a bust at 19 and everyone knew it and discussed it. Not sure your point here.

Do you have any other examples or just that one outlier?

[Stillwater]

Define bust when you're on one of the worst teams in the league you could argue the majority of their recent picks are under performing.
Jackson looks like possible bust potential along with Chriss over a system player like Bender playing in a poorly executing system.

Lol what?

Admit I don't watch very many Phoenix Suns games, but I haven't seen anything when I did from Jackson or Chriss the leads me to believe they will ever be worth the pick that was used on each, but the jury is still out on Jackson. Bender definitely wasn't worth where he was taken either but it seems to me that his issues are a matter of circumstance where he needs to part of a system where plays are specifically run for him. So in that light he is a bust as well because that's unlikely to be the case in Phoenix.

[Mickey8]

Bad coaching and injury for the better part of his first year cost him a lot I believe. He is unlikely to become a superstar, but he can become something like Kirilenko, or a better Frye, or something like his childhood hero Kukoc. I know they are different players and outcomes, but it's just a way to show how many possibilities he still has infront of him. He is only 20, and again, he was injured for an extended period of time last year, got joga lessons instead of coaching from that idi*t Watson, who was in love with Chriss and dogged Bender for whatever reason.
Kid shoots well, passes well, awareness is good, help/team defense is OK. So he got ways to go, OK - it's up to the Suns to make and help him reach his potential, which is a good 4th 5th guy on a contender I believe.

Please stop with that nonsense, those two players are international basketball legends. He''ll be lucky to have career of Vladimir Radmanovic when its all said and done .

[Mickey8]

After Mario Hezonja's turnaround i dont think it's fair to call any sophomore top 5 pick a bust so quickly

He hasn't turned anything around , Orlando is an awful team and Hezonja is an average player this season.

[DeadHorse]

After Mario Hezonja's turnaround i dont think it's fair to call any sophomore top 5 pick a bust so quickly

He hasn't turned anything around , Orlando is an awful team and Hezonja is an average player this season.

He's proven that he shouldn't have had his team option declined. maybe not top 5 of that draft, but at least a solid rotation player in the league

[bwgood77]

Dirk became a star in year two. Sucked year one. What’s a good parallel here?

Dragan Bender... Dirk Nowitzki........

Not all that different at age 20. Bender the better long range shooter and better TS%....overall other #s similar...

http://bkref.com/tiny/IEJs7

[HotelVitale]

After Mario Hezonja's turnaround i dont think it's fair to call any sophomore top 5 pick a bust so quickly

He hasn't turned anything around , Orlando is an awful team and Hezonja is an average player this season.

He's proven that he shouldn't have had his team option declined. maybe not top 5 of that draft, but at least a solid rotation player in the league

Or maybe he's just proven that when he's playing at his best he's a rotation guy--and on average he's a d leaguer. His hot streak hasn't been that good--16/6 per 36 on medium efficiency--and it might already be over, since it looks like he's been playing very poorly again in March.

Hard to tell now but I definitely haven't seen anything that says this guy's going to be a big contributor from now on.

[3toheadmelo]

not sure if a bust but i never liked him coming out of the draft

[snowthedirtbub]

I find it hard to believe that anybody on the general board watches enough Suns game to weigh in on such a topic, especially with the amount of posts I see calling Devin Booker a one dimensional chucker. Dragan Bender was the youngest player in the draft last year and isn't even through his second season yet.

[JellosJigglin]

Admittedly I've only watched him about 10 times. I do think he'll get a lot better skillswise with age and experience. The thing I find disappointing is that I don't really see anything about him that is physically or instinctually noteworthy. Most high lottery picks, even when their skills are raw, show something that just jumps out of the tv screen. Whether it's freakish wingspan, doggedness on defense, anticipation skills or just a general feel for the game that's beyond their years.

I feel like those are the things that determine a player's ceiling because they're always present even as their skills catch up. And even when they're having a bad game it'll make you say "whoa" when they show it. I haven't seen Bender really do anything that gave me that reaction and made me think "okay now I see what he can become in a few years".

He may still turn out to become a very good player. Way too soon to call him a bust. But I think his ceiling is lower than I originally thought when he was drafted.

[Baz]

Dirk became a star in year two. Sucked year one. What’s a good parallel here?

Dragan Bender... Dirk Nowitzki........

Not all that different at age 20. Bender the better long range shooter and better TS%....overall other #s similar...

http://bkref.com/tiny/IEJs7

How many more tall European shooters are we going to call the next Dirk before someone actually comes relatively close?

[Pukovnik]

No, he is not bust, he just needs to get away from the Phoenix Suns. Literally, coach Jay Triano said they want Bender to shoot as much threes as he wants because this is what they want to be like as a team. A three point shooting team. He has so much potential to be a terrific all round asset, not many players his size can move like him. He is already very good on defense, but offense needs a lot of work. He won't get that in Phoenix because they only want to shoot threes.

And by the way, calling a bust someone who played one full season is ridiculous (he was injured last year).

[peZt]

No, he is not bust, he just needs to get away from the Phoenix Suns. Literally, coach Jay Triano said they want Bender to shoot as much threes as he wants because this is what they want to be like as a team. A three point shooting team. He has so much potential to be a terrific all round asset, not many players his size can move like him. He is already very good on defense, but offense needs a lot of work. He won't get that in Phoenix because they only want to shoot threes.

And by the way, calling a bust someone who played one full season is ridiculous (he was injured last year).

Yeah, the Suns are a terrible fit for him. Making him sit around the corner and using him as a pure spot up shooter, when he wasn't known for his jumpshot but for his all-around game and superb playmaking at 7'1 doesn't seem like a great idea to me.

I am a bit disappointed about his development, because I was relatively high on him coming out of the draft, but I'm pretty sure he would have done much better in almost any other team.

[Paija]

I cannot say whether Dragan will be a bust or no, but his high draft number is easily explained by context. Porzingis went lower than he would go if there was re-draft, mainly because all tall Europeans at the time were considered next Bargnani (or the other guy, do not remember his name, because I am quite a recent basketball fan). After Porzingis, the majority opinion went the opposite way, so there might be several international players in last two drafts, drafted on potential to be the next Porzingis. Dragan is just the first of them.

[UcanUwill]

No, he is not bust, he just needs to get away from the Phoenix Suns. Literally, coach Jay Triano said they want Bender to shoot as much threes as he wants because this is what they want to be like as a team. A three point shooting team. He has so much potential to be a terrific all round asset, not many players his size can move like him. He is already very good on defense, but offense needs a lot of work. He won't get that in Phoenix because they only want to shoot threes.

And by the way, calling a bust someone who played one full season is ridiculous (he was injured last year).

Yeah, the Suns are a terrible fit for him. Making him sit around the corner and using him as a pure spot up shooter, when he wasn't known for his jumpshot but for his all-around game and superb playmaking at 7'1 doesn't seem like a great idea to me.

I am a bit disappointed about his development, because I was relatively high on him coming out of the draft, but I'm pretty sure he would have done much better in almost any other team.

To be fair that was his exact role in Israel too. I talked with one Maccabi fan, who said he had no clue why Bender was hyped that much, as the only think he could do was float around perimeter and shoot open 3s.

[Jables]

No, he is not bust, he just needs to get away from the Phoenix Suns. Literally, coach Jay Triano said they want Bender to shoot as much threes as he wants because this is what they want to be like as a team. A three point shooting team. He has so much potential to be a terrific all round asset, not many players his size can move like him. He is already very good on defense, but offense needs a lot of work. He won't get that in Phoenix because they only want to shoot threes.

And by the way, calling a bust someone who played one full season is ridiculous (he was injured last year).

Yeah that's a terrible way of developing a kid, especially a 7 footer and gives some insight into why he is just shooting 3's. I don't really understand the thought process behind specifically limiting a really young kids game to something they are already capable of doing, especially when it's just shooting a few 3's per game, you can get any bench player to provide that, develop them properly.

[UcanUwill]

No, he is not bust, he just needs to get away from the Phoenix Suns. Literally, coach Jay Triano said they want Bender to shoot as much threes as he wants because this is what they want to be like as a team. A three point shooting team. He has so much potential to be a terrific all round asset, not many players his size can move like him. He is already very good on defense, but offense needs a lot of work. He won't get that in Phoenix because they only want to shoot threes.

And by the way, calling a bust someone who played one full season is ridiculous (he was injured last year).

Yeah that's a terrible way of developing a kid, especially a 7 footer and gives some insight into why he is just shooting 3's. I don't really understand the thought process behind specifically limiting a really young kids game to something they are already capable of doing, especially when it's just shooting a few 3's per game, you can get any bench player to provide that, develop them properly.

Its easy to throw coach under the bus, but I think this is just the case of very limited player. If player was actually versatile, any coach would use that. But Bender never was Saric, Diaw or Bjelica or someone like that, I thought he has potential because he moves very well for his size, but his skills were highly exaggerated. Some fans were glowing how good of the passer/playmaker he was, and may I ask, when if ever he actually showed that ability before the draft?

[Gordon]

He is timid and soft, he is also poor ballhandler, has no post moves, lacks strenght. He might be the worst 20+mpg player in the NBA right now, but with that said he is still only 20-years old and he has good foundation to build on being really tall, having decent mobility for his size, good 3-point shot and above average basketball IQ.

While his ceiling may not be what a prototypical top 5 pick has, he still has all the makings of 10+ years rotational big/fringe starter. Too soon to call him a bust, he could blow up two years from now when he matures physically and mentally.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

This thread is wack. No doubt kid isn't as aggressive as we'd like him to be, but it's not as much that he's 1 year away from being 1 year away as he's 10 pounds away from being 10 pounds away. How many 20 year old 7 footers in the world shoot 38% from 3 in the NBA (on a legit number of attempts, at that)? There are no others.

Ignored in this thread are Dragan's defense and passing. He's an excellent passer. His biggest issue in that respect is that he looks to pass damn near 95% of the time, so defenses always know what he's going to do. But he still gets a sneaky great pass in here and there. He doesn't get enough credit for his defense in large part because the Suns switch him on everything - meaning he ends up guarding Kemba Walker, Chris Paul, etc., on the reg. No matter how good you are at moving your feet, you're not going to be able to stop the drive and contest the shot. Dragan invariably chooses the former, because like so many teams in the L, the Suns lack rim protection.

Give the kid time. It's obvious to me that he'll have a long career in this league, and there just aren't many players his size that can do what he does - handle the ball, pass, shoot from distance (with a quick release, too).

Look at his game against CHA. First half, took one shot. Same old passivity that we Suns fans are so tired of seeing. Then late in the game, someone evidently got in his ear and told him he needs to shoot the team back into the game - which he did. Came back in and immediately nailed a couple threes. Finished with 16 points on 8 field goal attempts, almost spurring a comeback victory.

Kid's 20. A bust already? Give me a break.

[Mike87]

Not gonna call him a bust since he is so young but shooting under 40% from 2pt is almost unbelievable for a 7 footer (although he rarely shoots them.) I’d give him a few more years, his three ball is decent at least.