Dragan Bender News, Discussion and Highlights

[lilfishi22]

Good to know he wants to be back but if he gets a better than low offer from us then I bid him adieu

[oligo]

I mean, usually, I'm trying not to use that B-word for players age 20-23, but if there exist some player in the league, who might become a bust, his name is Dragan Bender.

This guy has not moved to another level seasons long. He had enough time and chance to bring his game to another level, he was getting some decent minutes despite his lack of talent/dare/will/strength and still, he couldn't develop himself to become something. I think he should also blame his camp, who did not take enough care of him during three consecutive summers. He should be working out A TON every summer on the individual 1v1 basis.

His poor performance during the 2018 Summer League was an early red flag of things to come. Kokoshkov saw that and said something like "Dragan Bender has a complete skill set, but he is not particularly good at any skill".

I think Suns should ditch this guy this summer. Not because he is not worth a (cheap) minimum contract, but because he is sitting on one roster spot that could be otherwise taken by some other vet/prospect/talent/young buck.

Currently, based on everything that has been said and done about him, I really don't see the way how could he improve his game.

[Crives]

Good to know he wants to be back but if he gets a better than low offer from us then I bid him adieu

I think we can only offer what he would have made if we picked up his option, no more or less.

[MathiasPW]

Good to know he wants to be back but if he gets a better than low offer from us then I bid him adieu

I think we can only offer what he would have made if we picked up his option, no more or less.

Which would be the salary for the last year of his rookie scale, no?

More than he is worth, at this point, which is why we shouldn't (and didn't) pick it up.

[Saberestar]

Good to know he wants to be back but if he gets a better than low offer from us then I bid him adieu

I think we can only offer what he would have made if we picked up his option, no more or less.

We can offer him at most what he would have made if we picked up his option, so a cheap offer is possible.

[Crives]

Good to know he wants to be back but if he gets a better than low offer from us then I bid him adieu

I think we can only offer what he would have made if we picked up his option, no more or less.

We can offer him at most what he would have made if we picked up his option, so a cheap offer is possible.

Really? That’s awesome. So we could give Bender a MLE and bring him back without affecting our cap room?

[bwgood77]

I think we can only offer what he would have made if we picked up his option, no more or less.

We can offer him at most what he would have made if we picked up his option, so a cheap offer is possible.

Really? That’s awesome. So we could give Bender a MLE and bring him back without affecting our cap room?

$5.9 million is the max. Other teams could offer him more but it is unlikely anyone would. I doubt we'd offer him any more than about half that if we give him an offer at all.

[Saberestar]

I have seen a couple of tweets that say that Bender is in Arizona, he probably is trying to get a contract and stay with the Suns for next season. Not sure if Monty Williams is interested in him.

[Crives]

I have seen a couple of tweets that say that Bender is in Arizona, he probably is trying to get a contract and stay with the Suns for next season. Not sure if Monty Williams is interested in him.

If we pick white or Garland in the draft I would love to bring back Bender.

[lilfishi22]

Definitely seems like he's angling to get back on an NBA team and he knows the Suns aren't set up front.

[jcsunsfan]

I think we can only offer what he would have made if we picked up his option, no more or less.

We can offer him at most what he would have made if we picked up his option, so a cheap offer is possible.

Really? That’s awesome. So we could give Bender a MLE and bring him back without affecting our cap room?

You do not get the MLE AND cap room.

[bwgood77]

We can offer him at most what he would have made if we picked up his option, so a cheap offer is possible.

Really? That’s awesome. So we could give Bender a MLE and bring him back without affecting our cap room?

You do not get the MLE AND cap room.

I think you get the Room MLE instead which is something like $4.76 million according to this..

The standard mid-level exception is available to over-the-cap teams that haven’t dipped below the cap to use room and don’t go over the tax apron at all. It can run for up to four years, with 5% annual raises.

The taxpayer mid-level exception is for in-the-tax teams, or teams that want the flexibility to surpass the tax apron later. It can run for up to three years, with 5% annual raises.

The room exception is for teams that go under the cap and use their space. Once they’ve used all their cap room, they can use this version of the mid-level exception, which runs for up to two years with 5% annual raises.

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2019/02/early-mid-level-bi-annual-projections-for-201920.html

[nevetsov]

Working through the offseason in PHX, kid obviously wants to be here and get better. I'd definitely throw the room exception at him. Hope Monty sees his potential during these workouts.

[Frank Lee]

Got to fill seats 9-10–11-12

Might as well be a familiar face... at least he can grow a beard now, scraggly as it may be
1 yr + team option ...

[lilfishi22]

Really? That’s awesome. So we could give Bender a MLE and bring him back without affecting our cap room?

You do not get the MLE AND cap room.

I think you get the Room MLE instead which is something like $4.76 million according to this..

The standard mid-level exception is available to over-the-cap teams that haven’t dipped below the cap to use room and don’t go over the tax apron at all. It can run for up to four years, with 5% annual raises.

The taxpayer mid-level exception is for in-the-tax teams, or teams that want the flexibility to surpass the tax apron later. It can run for up to three years, with 5% annual raises.

The room exception is for teams that go under the cap and use their space. Once they’ve used all their cap room, they can use this version of the mid-level exception, which runs for up to two years with 5% annual raises.

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2019/02/early-mid-level-bi-annual-projections-for-201920.html

Learn something new today. I thought there were only 3 types of MLE's.

[nevetsov]

Remember how Len was inconsistent through his rookie contract, and is only now a decent player on the Hawks? I feel like Dragan will have a similar uptick. He's much younger too.

[RaisingArizona]

LET'S BRING BACK ALL THE SCRUBS FROM A 19 WIN TEAM!!!

[sasquatchBob]

Remember how Len was inconsistent through his rookie contract, and is only now a decent player on the Hawks? I feel like Dragan will have a similar uptick. He's much younger too.

If last season Suns had Len instead of Ayton everyone would still be sh*tting on him. I would rather pay someone that's not named Bender. He's too passive. It's just too disappointing to watch him play.

[denial]

I supported Dragan hard. Then I finally gave up on him mid-season last year. But by the end of the year I saw several flashes that sort of made me hopeful he would figure it out.

So now with Saric coming in, is Dragan done as a Sun?

[lilfishi22]

I supported Dragan hard. Then I finally gave up on him mid-season last year. But by the end of the year I saw several flashes that sort of made me hopeful he would figure it out.

So now with Saric coming in, is Dragan done as a Sun?

If we weren't looking at trying to open up as much cap space as possible, I could see a scenario where he comes back for cheap. But I think we're probably just going to renounce his rights and that spells the official end of the 2016 NBA Draft for us