Just came across this article posted ESPN all the way back in November. In the article Marc Stein has the opportunity to watch Dragan Bender play at the United Center in Chicago and is blown away by the kids performance.
The vast majority of the article is about his experiences that day...I attached the section about Bender below.
Also interesting to note that at the time of the article Ben Simmons and Skal Labissiere (spelling) are the front runners for the number one pick. I also forget that Bender is the youngest player in the draft and just tuned 18. He essential could have been a high school senior this entire season (Ingram is the next youngest player...Simmons is a full year and a half older)
From the article:
The 17-year-old phenom playing the first game of his life on a significant stage could not have looked more like he belonged with all the grown men on the hallowed United Center floor.
I got to watch Bender from very close range.
And I can assure you that he's the realest of deals. The slender 7-footer doesn't turn 18 until November, but he can already do a little bit of everything. Bender runs the floor. He handles the ball. He scores inside and outside. He knows how to pass. He's not afraid to bang even though he clearly needs to add bulk and strength. And, most of all, he's already an impact player defensively who, despite his tender age and slight frame, can play the 3, 4 and 5.
In both his Chicago appearance and Sunday's rematch with Milano at Madison Square Garden, after spending last season in Israel's second division with Maccabi's B team, Bender was a shot-blocking (and shot-changing) force at the rim. Even better: In the most high-profile game of his career to that point, Bender showed us his healthy appetite for playing small forward in United Center crunch time opposite one of Europe's better swingmen in Alessandro Gentile.
There's a decent chance Gentile, whose NBA rights are held by Houston, will be in the league next season, because the Rockets hope to bring him over for the 2016-17 campaign. Yet in this instance, Bender's length and foot speed completely snuffed Gentile out of the game.
Gentile backed off, unsure how to counter Bender's length. The kid has a L-O-N-G way to go, with his physical development as well as a long-range game he's still smoothing out, but we have to ask: How many 7-footers from Europe have sent a gaggle of NBA scouts home talking about his perimeter D?
The true draft experts will tell you that the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 draft already belongs to Ben Simmons or Skal Labissiere, but I'd stay tuned. Don't be surprised if the forecasts change over the next few months, judging by the manner in which Bender stepped onto the same slab of hardwood where His Airness once roamed, followed by the so-called Mecca of Basketball at MSG, and looked so ridiculously comfortable.
Which left at least one of us in the audience wowed and envious.
Link:
http://espn.go.com/blog/marc-stein/post/_/id/3966/dragan-tales-scary-prospect-shaky-play-by-play