Dragan Bender - 97 born Croatian prospect

[Rastas]

Wow , if thats his highlights for this season , I just dont see why so many like him as a top 5 pick.
Kid has great length for ease of dunking but thats about it, nothing else stands out as outstanding.
I believe he needs alot more explosiveness in his offensive game to get me excited.
Wish him the best of luck and dont mean to talk down on him as he is probably a great kid/ athlete
but I personally would not pick him in my top 10.
Sorry if I upset any of his supporters , am getting old and probably need glasses soon , lol.

[brackdan70]

nice game today...he is getting some run in the playoffs
http://basketball.realgm.com/international/boxscore/2016-05-26/Bnei-Herzelia-at-Maccabi-FOX-Tel-Aviv/238987

[RollingWave]

Jesus Christ people need to stop with AK47 comparison for any slavic looking tall white Euros who might be able to defend.

Kirilenko was one of the most athletic euro players of all time on top of being one of the best passers in the league and just ridiculous feel for the game in general, if you bring prime AK back now and replace Draymond Green with him on the Warriors there's a real chance the Ws become a better team.

I don't see any of those things in Bender right now, he's athletic but not the utter twitch lightening that AK was, AK showed ridiculous skills in every faced (except shooting.) where as Bender now is kinda skilled for a 4... maybe.

AK was such an exceptional passer, what do we have to suggest that Bender is an above average one? let alone an exceptional one in the league? There's also almost zero chance Bender comes anywhere near the leader of blocks in a season that AK did many times.

This isn't a knock on Bender, but Kirilenko was a massively underrated player in his time, forget about all stars (that he only had 1 was a farce) he should have been freaking all NBA at least 3 or 4 times in his career. it's a shame his career happened right before leagues really start to actually appreciate it. if his prime was now, he's easily a super star.

In a 1999 redraft, especially today, Kirilenko and Manu would have been the at least the top 5 player if not the 2 best players.

[toussaud]

He's basically a eastern Europe version of Chris bosh. If you liked bosh at Georgia Tech I don't see how you can't like bender. Taller, younger better defense, offense isn't as far along but their games and skill sets are a carbon copt

[Stackey]

Maybe he ends as a number 1 pick after workouts

And I said it before, please stop calling people from former Yugoslavia "Eastern Europeans". It's Southeastern Europe!

[JMac1]

He's basically a eastern Europe version of Chris bosh. If you liked bosh at Georgia Tech I don't see how you can't like bender. Taller, younger better defense, offense isn't as far along but their games and skill sets are a carbon copt

Bosh had serious handles and a post game when he came out. If Bender was a taller Bosh with better D, he'd go number one.

[Mirotic12]

Vesely is elite athlete, Bender is not, Vesely got major exposure and playing time, Bender did not, Vesely was pretty raw and unskilled prospect and got noticed because of athleticism, Bender was dropping triple-doubles as 16 y old and already has some skills that can develop over time, Vesely still cant shoot, Bender can, same goes for free throws. Bender is gonna get drafted as 18 year old, Vesely was 21.

I still cant understand how can a person who watched at least 2 min of each Bender and Vesely highlights or even know basic things about both of them can claim they are similar or compare their games.You might be trolling some posters but IMO you are just ignorant Spewing random nonsense, half-truths and making **** up are worse than admitting you dont like certain prospect.I am not big Bender fan but at least i refrain from writing things i know nothing about.

Really, because all I see when I watch either of their highlights are dump-off dunks and weak drives that they get away with because they're taller/longer than their competition. Bender shoots an outside shot every once in a while, but that's it.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IffAjKkyPBE[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XJ0Sq3b5Qs[/youtube]

Vesely is light years more athletic than Bender is. He also is a lot longer, and he has a much stronger body. He may be rail thin, but he is wiry strong and has very good functional strength.

Bender is light years more skilled on offense than Vesely.

There is no similarity between these two other than:

1. They are basketball players
2. They are European
3. They are white
4. They are both really tall

Jesus Christ people need to stop with AK47 comparison for any slavic looking tall white Euros who might be able to defend.

Kirilenko was one of the most athletic euro players of all time on top of being one of the best passers in the league and just ridiculous feel for the game in general, if you bring prime AK back now and replace Draymond Green with him on the Warriors there's a real chance the Ws become a better team.

I don't see any of those things in Bender right now, he's athletic but not the utter twitch lightening that AK was, AK showed ridiculous skills in every faced (except shooting.) where as Bender now is kinda skilled for a 4... maybe.

AK was such an exceptional passer, what do we have to suggest that Bender is an above average one? let alone an exceptional one in the league? There's also almost zero chance Bender comes anywhere near the leader of blocks in a season that AK did many times.

This isn't a knock on Bender, but Kirilenko was a massively underrated player in his time, forget about all stars (that he only had 1 was a farce) he should have been freaking all NBA at least 3 or 4 times in his career. it's a shame his career happened right before leagues really start to actually appreciate it. if his prime was now, he's easily a super star.

In a 1999 redraft, especially today, Kirilenko and Manu would have been the at least the top 5 player if not the 2 best players.

Yea, the Kirilenko comparison makes no sense. All the things you said, plus on top of it...Bender is a way better shooter than Kirilenko was, and they don't even play in the same style and are not even by position the same types of players.

Kirilenko was a 3/4 that could defend 5 positions, and 3 of them easily, and he could play any kind of role player off the ball role in offense. While Bender is pretty much strictly a classic spread the floor power forward. In terms of versatility and player traits and characteristics there is no similarity between them.

He's basically a eastern Europe version of Chris bosh. If you liked bosh at Georgia Tech I don't see how you can't like bender. Taller, younger better defense, offense isn't as far along but their games and skill sets are a carbon copt

I don't recall Bosh at Georgia Tech. But Bosh in the Raptors and Heat is more skilled and versatile on offense than Bender is right now.

Maybe he ends as a number 1 pick after workouts

And I said it before, please stop calling people from former Yugoslavia "Eastern Europeans". It's Southeastern Europe!

People should just call it the Balkans for the former Yugoslav countries, Greece, Albania, and Bulgaria. Because that's how it's commonly known through the world.

Btw, no Croatian national team this summer for Bender, as according to reports he won't play with Croatia senior national team.

[pohani komarac]

Kirlienko was a a perennial 5X5 threat/DPOY candidate.

Same goes for Bender potentially. That's exactly why he value so high, not just because he's tall. That's why he remids me at AK. Their contribution and way they think and play is simmilar

[ChilledAlex]

Lol all these KP and Bender comparisons..

Bender has talent, but does he have work ethic, mental toughness and the right people around him to succeed?

Talent, size and ability is one thing but you can't succeed with only that, not in modern era where athletes are so developed and the competition is so huge.

Best of luck to Bender tho.

[canibaljay]

Lol all these KP and Bender comparisons..

Bender has talent, but does he have work ethic, mental toughness and the right people around him to succeed?

Talent, size and ability is one thing but you can't succeed with only that, not in modern era where athletes are so developed and the competition is so huge.

Best of luck to Bender tho.

The KP comps are just lazy. I'm not gonna lie, at his age Bender is much more skilled than KP was, especially when it comes to ball-handling (Something KP still needs to work on). However, he doesn't have the length, athleticism, and shooting touch that KP has.

I do like his fluidity though, that's really what always stands out to me about Bender. I just hate that every Euro player has to be compared with "insert prominent Euro player here."

[ATLTimekeeper]

He's basically a eastern Europe version of Chris bosh. If you liked bosh at Georgia Tech I don't see how you can't like bender. Taller, younger better defense, offense isn't as far along but their games and skill sets are a carbon copt

Bosh had serious handles and a post game when he came out. If Bender was a taller Bosh with better D, he'd go number one.

Not really. He came to Toronto with one inconsistent post move and later honed his face-up game. He didn't have serious handles at all, but he had an elite 1st step and good explosiveness. I don't see any similarity with Bender. Bender can handle the ball in transition and pass off the dribble. He's clearly comfortable handling the ball and making quick reads, but then again, he's played so little it's hard to tell. I watched all of Bosh's early career and he Bosh needed like 15 seconds with the ball in his hands to decide what to do with it. Very mechanical and rigid early on in his career.

[ChilledAlex]

Lol all these KP and Bender comparisons..

Bender has talent, but does he have work ethic, mental toughness and the right people around him to succeed?

Talent, size and ability is one thing but you can't succeed with only that, not in modern era where athletes are so developed and the competition is so huge.

Best of luck to Bender tho.

The KP comps are just lazy. I'm not gonna lie, at his age Bender is much more skilled than KP was, especially when it comes to ball-handling (Something KP still needs to work on). However, he doesn't have the length, athleticism, and shooting touch that KP has.

I do like his fluidity though, that's really what always stands out to me about Bender. I just hate that every Euro player has to be compared with "insert prominent Euro player here."

I wouldnt say Bender is much more skilled, he has better handles and Bender looks bulkier/stronger than KP was at 18, but thats about it.

[canibaljay]

Lol all these KP and Bender comparisons..

Bender has talent, but does he have work ethic, mental toughness and the right people around him to succeed?

Talent, size and ability is one thing but you can't succeed with only that, not in modern era where athletes are so developed and the competition is so huge.

Best of luck to Bender tho.

The KP comps are just lazy. I'm not gonna lie, at his age Bender is much more skilled than KP was, especially when it comes to ball-handling (Something KP still needs to work on). However, he doesn't have the length, athleticism, and shooting touch that KP has.

I do like his fluidity though, that's really what always stands out to me about Bender. I just hate that every Euro player has to be compared with "insert prominent Euro player here."

I wouldnt say Bender is much more skilled, he has better handles and Bender looks bulkier/stronger than KP was at 18, but thats about it.

I disagree, he also looks like a better passer and defender on the perimeter than KP at that age, and has a nice shooting stroke that needs work.

(BTW I'm a die hard Porz fan, ever since I heard of him 2 years ago when the Magic were interested, I was happy when the Knicks drafted him)

That's not necessarily a knock on KP either, he grew substantially as a basketball player both in Europe and the NBA, something that Bender is unfortunately going to have to do in the NBA.

I'm excited to see how Bender grows, I personally see him becoming a super-role player, but he does have an all-star ceiling.

[HeartBreakKid]

Bender has been a higher rated prospect than Porzingis for the most part, Porzingis really only sky rocketed in his draft during work out - on an age by age comparison, Bender is probably the highest rated big prospect in Europe for a really long time, it's only this year that it seems like his hype has taken a serious hit.

With that being said, they're very different players, the only thing they have in common is that they are both really tall for PFs and have the potential to be good shooters.

[sam_I_am]

I think a lot of comparisons are lazy. Porzingas is like a 7-2 Kirilenko with a jump shot. Kirilenko reminds me of Aaron Gordon - amazing talent in every aspect of the game except for shooting. AK47 was like Larry Bird (hard nosed, 50/50 plays) but with amazing athleticism and lousy shot. And as splash brothers are proving - a great jump shot with minimum required athleticism trumps uber athleticism alone. Vesely was a catch and dunk guy who couldn't dunk over NBA players thus a bust..

That is what Bender is intriguing and actually unique. He has height and length and runs really well. He actually defends well and his shooting and passing could be special given that size. The bust potential comes from size, hops and inability to create off dribble the way Dirk can. How can you be an elite player if you are not a go to scorer and not a physical beast dominating paint/rim/boards like a KG.

I think Bender reminds me a little of KG offensively but with more range and only a little defensively in terms of versatility and switching and weak side defender (but it is a pale comparison). Kind of like 2013 KG on defense when rebounding and shot blocking were no longer HOF or all star worthy. How good can that kind of complimentary player be in NBA?

Of course, if he gets into NBA conditioning program you might see a transformation like Ralph Sampson had at UVA where his strength, weight and verticle leap improved enormously. He is young enough that he could look like a very different prospect physically in 2 years.

[Curmudgeon]

Folks realize that it is not in Maccabai Tel Aviv's best interest to showcase Bender, right? They have him on a 7 year deal for peanuts with a very manageable NBA buyout ($1.3M, of which the team that drafts him can pay $650K). They would love his draft stock to slip so that his portion of the buyout becomes painful and he might elect to stay for another few years.

So you can throw this year's numbers out the window. I've seen lots and lots of film on Bender. He might be a bust, but he has the highest upside of any player in this draft-- and it isn't even close. Some GM with cojones could wind up with a dominant player for the next 20 years.

[Mirotic12]

Folks realize that it is not in Maccabai Tel Aviv's best interest to showcase Bender, right? They have him on a 7 year deal for peanuts with a very manageable NBA buyout ($1.3M, of which the team that drafts him can pay $650K). They would love his draft stock to slip so that his portion of the buyout becomes painful and he might elect to stay for another few years.

So you can throw this year's numbers out the window. I've seen lots and lots of film on Bender. He might be a bust, but he has the highest upside of any player in this draft-- and it isn't even close. Some GM with cojones could wind up with a dominant player for the next 20 years.

Maccabi never signed Bender with the intention of having him as a player. He was signed for his potential buyout payday for the club. They are solely interested in his buyout. They never had any intention of keeping him as a player. He was signed specifically for the club to make money through his buyout (they never had the slightest intention of keeping him). In fact, he has gotten much more playing time than he would have if they were not trying to secure a buyout.

If it was not for them playing him to try to get that buyout, he would still be on loan, playing in Israel's 2nd division.

[Mustinjo]

Folks realize that it is not in Maccabai Tel Aviv's best interest to showcase Bender, right? They have him on a 7 year deal for peanuts with a very manageable NBA buyout ($1.3M, of which the team that drafts him can pay $650K). They would love his draft stock to slip so that his portion of the buyout becomes painful and he might elect to stay for another few years.

So you can throw this year's numbers out the window. I've seen lots and lots of film on Bender. He might be a bust, but he has the highest upside of any player in this draft-- and it isn't even close. Some GM with cojones could wind up with a dominant player for the next 20 years.

Maccabi never signed Bender with the intention of having him as a player. He was signed for his potential buyout payday for the club. They are solely interested in his buyout. They never had any intention of keeping him as a player. He was signed specifically for the club to make money through his buyout (they never had the slightest intention of keeping him). In fact, he has gotten much more playing time than he would have if they were not trying to secure a buyout.

If it was not for them playing him to try to get that buyout, he would still be on loan, playing in Israel's 2nd division.

Not really, but that's not the point here. Maccabi was in a much different place when they signed him, there's no way Bender would have gone there if situation two years ago in Maccabi was like it is now.

[Dr Positivity]

I'm willing to let him off the hook for his avg stats since 18 is really young to perform in Euroleague, but it doesn't mean his stats profile is irrelevant. From a numbers perspective, Players with Good Stats > N/A (Bender/Korkmaz/Thon Maker) > Players with Bad Stats.

[Curmudgeon]

He plays 2 minutes here, 6 minutes there, logs a few DNPs, then plays 14 minutes... and so it goes. Who is going to put up good numbers with that kind of usage, especially at age 18? Look at his 43 pt game against Virtus Bologna or his performance in 2015 at the Addidas Eurocamp. He's very skilled and every NBA team knows it. If Bender had played a year of college ball in the U.S. he would be the consensus #1 pick, no questions asked.