Is Dragan Bender a bust?

[Bevzil]

For people wondering where all hype came from, these are Bender's stats from FIBA U18 tournament 2014:

http://www.fibaeurope.com/compID_8aYeHlfuGF-mF5IqO8aFH1.season_2014.roundID_10067.teamID_2168.playerID_100891.html

Bender played against older players (he didn't turn 17 then yet) and he was first in blocked shots, 3rd in Rebounds, 14th in PPG and 3rd in assists in tournament.

He was quite dominant in youth competition, he just needs to show he can do it versus NBA competition now. The tools are there, to me it seems it's all in his head (and maybe role that coach gave him).

[PD28]

I can admit that I really liked him as a prospect coming into the draft. Seems to fit the trend of the NBA in terms of solid athleticism for size, good vision and can be a good shooter. It's too early to tell yet, and also not sure those of you writing him are are factoring in he is playing for the suns.

[Sothron]

I thought he had major bust potential before the draft. He's done nothing to make me reconsider.

To be fair, he's still very young. I'd give him next season as his "show me something kid" moment of truth.

[UcanUwill]

I watched that Lithuania-Croatia game, in which Bender scored 34 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. That was such a fluke game, Lithuania just completely fell apart defensively, they were in the game at the half, because of hot shooting, but Croatia ran with it in a second half. If you exclude that bizarre game, his stats are not very good at all, except for assists, assiting numbers are very impressive.

[Jody Smokz]

We are in the age where young guys come in much more raw and need development, reps and to be put in positions to succeed. No way is dude a bust just yet. He has good bball tools. PHX needs quality coaching.

[DusterBuster]

I think he is.

[Lauri_Legend]

Closer to a bust than a good pick if anything. Wonder if he'd be a good player if he was drafted by a good team. Product of your environment.

[bwgood77]

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?

I don't think he will be the next Dirk, but they were similar at their age, and Dragan is the better shooter at 20.

[bwgood77]

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?

He averaged 4.9apg in the U18 league euroleague http://www.fibaeurope.com/compID_8aYeHlfuGF-mF5IqO8aFH1.season_2014.roundID_10067.teamID_2168.playerID_100891.html

He's been showing it this year too...just had a 5 game stretch recently where he averaged 5 apg.

[John Murdoch]

He has that Hezonja vibe for me right now. He has shown flashes but he is inconsistent and hasn't looked comfortable in his abilities yet. Markanenn is like a veteran version of Bender already witch is saying a lot .

[John Murdoch]

He has serious confidence issues. I wouldn't call him a bust yet but he's knocking on the door.

Yeah this is what im seeing aswell. Its hard to say he would do better outside of PHX either because he has had enough playing time already to show if he can put up numbers but he hasnt

[Bevzil]

I watched that Lithuania-Croatia game, in which Bender scored 34 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. That was such a fluke game, Lithuania just completely fell apart defensively, they were in the game at the half, because of hot shooting, but Croatia ran with it in a second half. If you exclude that bizarre game, his stats are not very good at all, except for assists, assiting numbers are very impressive.

If you exclude that game, you end up with 12.0 pts, 10.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.0 steals, 2.3 blocks, still pretty good.

And you got to consider Bender's age at that tournament, it was played at July/August 2014 when Bender was 16 years and 8 months old. For comparison, Domantas Sabonis played that tournament while being 18 years and 3 months old, and his stats were similar to Benders:

http://www.fibaeurope.com/compID_8aYeHlfuGF-mF5IqO8aFH1.season_2014.roundID_10067.teamID_2135.playerID_84314.html

Now let's see how Sabonis played last year (when he was half a year older then Bender is this year) and how he's playing now:

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/sabondo01.html

Quite a difference, isn't it?

Now, every player is different and I'm not saying Bender will not be a bust eventually, no one knows that. But he's far too young to write off yet. If he works on his strenght and build up his confidence this summer he may have a breakout year next season. We just have to wait and see.

[King4Day]

If he showed no growth then maybe. But he's insanely young and has taken baby steps this year.
He may never be a star but a role player isn't far fetched.

He's passive like Diaw was unfortunately.

[Pukovnik]

Sometimes player just needs time to develop. So many people expect a guy to become a star immediately which is crazy. Bender is only 20 years old, he is seven or eight years away from his prime, there is plenty of time to develop properly. There is a reason why rookie contracts are for four or even five years, to get a young player enough time to find his game. Look at Hezonja, Orlando gave up on him, and he can play, he improved in every aspect this season with Frank Vogel by his side. Coaches are important (never mind what Lavar Ball is saying), if a player has the right coach to guide him he can develop into a very good player. Bender will be fine, I have no doubt about that. This is his first fully year as a senior player basically, to call him a bust after he showed plenty of potential is insane.

[DoItALL9]

eh, as a fan of a team that has routinely drafted busts in the past, i say you trade that ass before it gets too late

Completely agree. Try to give him and Chriss (+more) to Orlando for AG.

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[Mirotic12]

No, he's not a bust at all. Anyone with basic basketball knowledge, that saw him play with Maccabi, knew he was a 4-5 year long project, and that he might never pan out. He's not at all a bust, considering he was a long-term project at the time he was drafted.

He averaged 4.9apg in the U18 league euroleague http://www.fibaeurope.com/compID_8aYeHlfuGF-mF5IqO8aFH1.season_2014.roundID_10067.teamID_2168.playerID_100891.html

Actually, that's a national youth tournament. Not the same thing as EuroLeague's junior league. I don't take Under-18 national tournaments very seriously. Under-19 World Cup and Under-20 Euros are more NCAA level. Under-18 Euros is full of guys that probably won't ever make a decent career in their country's main domestic league.

[bwgood77]

If he showed no growth then maybe. But he's insanely young and has taken baby steps this year.
He may never be a star but a role player isn't far fetched.

He's passive like Diaw was unfortunately.

I forgot how people complained so much about how passive Diaw was. He was that way for quite a while in the league.