thoughts on Dragan Bender?

[liam]

Bender went from shooting .277 in year one from 3 to shooting .366 in year two. Freethrows .364 to .765.  He could still be a player. A role player but possible a solid one.  He was always going to be a project.

He only took 11 free throws during his rookie year?

Took 51 in year two.

Ouch, lol .

He's only 21. He has some basketball skills. I think he could be useful to the right team, Some one who needs a 7 ft 3 point shooter...

[Beat LA]

Bender went from shooting .277 in year one from 3 to shooting .366 in year two. Freethrows .364 to .765.  He could still be a player. A role player but possible a solid one.  He was always going to be a project.

He only took 11 free throws during his rookie year?

Took 51 in year two.

Ouch, lol .

He's only 21. He has some basketball skills. I think he could be useful to the right team, Some one who needs a 7 ft 3 point shooter...

Nah. The league already has far too many of those dudes for my taste . Ugh.

[ederson]

If I am trading Rozier for a big I want a player like Dwayne Dedmon or JaMychal Green or Bobby Portis coming back. Not a complete scrub like Bender.

A couple of years ago you would have been ridiculed for putting Bender in the same sentence as those guys let alone say he’s a scrub in comparison. I remember reading all of the threads on CB stating he’s a can’t miss prospect. Amazing how times change.

Personally I’ve never been a big Bender fan and was happy that we didn’t draft him. Always seemed like a huge risk as high lotto pick. That said he is 20, is in a terrible situation in PHX and does have upside. If he could become half the defender he was projected to be (and has the tools to be) it’d be worth trading Rozier for. Big risk though.

Exactly! He got more hype than Doncic does this year although he was an end of the bench player playing for a bad euroleague team!

[Androslav]

We revise Benders 24-month career with each month on CB. No other Croat ever had that "privilege".
Give him time for a complete assessment.

[Androslav]

Bender went from shooting .277 in year one from 3 to shooting .366 in year two. Freethrows .364 to .765.  He could still be a player. A role player but possible a solid one.  He was always going to be a project.

He only took 11 free throws during his rookie year?

Took 51 in year two.

Ouch, lol .

He's only 21. He has some basketball skills. I think he could be useful to the right team, Some one who needs a 7 ft 3 point shooter...

Nah. The league already has far too many of those dudes for my taste . Ugh.

20! He'll be 21 in November.

[A Future of Stevens]

He is the kind of guy that you throw a small contract at when his current team gives up on him.

[Celtics4ever]

20! He'll be 21 in November.

Still soft as wet kleenex, do you think he is going to get tougher?  I don't he had a great chance in terms of playing time and laid an egg last year.

He shot .38% from the field, 37% from the line , 4 RPG 7 Points in 25MPG that is horrible

Do you guys realize they were tanking and that is one of the big reasons he played that much because they WANTED TO LOSE GAMES!   

Some here have said they would trade Rozier for him, too, which makes this one of the funniest threads here I have ever seen.

[Androslav]

20! He'll be 21 in November.

Still soft as wet kleenex, do you think he is going to get tougher?  I don't he had a great chance in terms of playing time and laid an egg last year.

He shot .38% from the field, 37% from the line , 4 RPG 7 Points in 25MPG that is horrible

Do you guys realize they were tanking and that is one of the big reasons he played that much because they WANTED TO LOSE GAMES!

Some here have said they would trade Rozier for him, too, which makes this one of the funniest threads here I have ever seen.

No, he played that much cause noone sans Booker (just 54 gms), can't shoot the ball. Jared Dudley played 686 minutes the whole year, when healthy, he was mostly coming in for Bender. Reducing the spacing even further.

Observe his floor mates:
Josh "the Brickster" Jackson,
Elfrid "I shoot worse than all that have this surname" Payton (Gary Payton II exists)
T.J. "the pre 3pt shoot era MVP" Warren
Tyson Chandler - Love him, but Mike Tyson has a greater range
Bledsoe? - he was supposed to lead them, and he quit on them.
Chriss? ...

I mean, conclude for yourself.
There was no outside shot at all in Phoenix.
It's a three-point shot era.
Dragan Bender (20) was their only guy above 2 meters, 6'6" that can hit a three in the whole state.

I am putting my hopes on Kokoškov to help him take his and this lowly team career up.

[perks-a-beast]

i'm surprised to hear so many people giving up on this kid who can't even legally drink yet.

I think circumstance has a lot to do with it. No doubt he is in a terrible situation in Phoenix. The franchise does doesn't have a good track record with developing young talent, which is unfortunate for him. But you'd have to be blind to overlook his potential, especially because bigs like him are so valuable in todays game. Put him in even just a slightly better situation, in Dallas or Atlanta for example, and I think he's capable of putting up 12 and 7 with promising defense and outside shooting.

[kozlodoev]

the kid has underperformed in his first two seasons, but it often takes big men more time to mature and develop opposed to guards. Bender won't be 21 until November, and I still think he has a lot of untapped potential.

We doing this again? The kid hasn't underperformed. He's performed exactly as many around here thought he would, the second coming of Bruno Sundov.

bruno and bender are not a good comparison to make your point here koz.

bruno sundov career stats, 7 seasons:
min/g = 5.1
pts/g = 1.7
rb/g = 1
3pt% = 20.6%

dragan bender career stats, 2 seasons:
min/g = 21.1
pts/g = 5.4
rb/g = 3.7
3pt% = 34.5%

and honestly, i do think bender will improve. he did from year 1 to year 2 already. how much? i cant tell.

I agree. Sundov is in fact a far, far more productive player on a per-minute basis. 

[CoachBo]

Stiff.

[footey]

20! He'll be 21 in November.

Still soft as wet kleenex, do you think he is going to get tougher?  I don't he had a great chance in terms of playing time and laid an egg last year.

He shot .38% from the field, 37% from the line , 4 RPG 7 Points in 25MPG that is horrible

Do you guys realize they were tanking and that is one of the big reasons he played that much because they WANTED TO LOSE GAMES!   

Some here have said they would trade Rozier for him, too, which makes this one of the funniest threads here I have ever seen.

It gets even funnier when you say he shot 37% from the free throw line last season.  Don't let the facts get in the way of your argument, CFF.

[footey]

Stiff.

Missed you. Where you been?

[Monkhouse]

He shot 37% from the FT line in his first year, not his second year in which he shot above 70% (clear signs he'll be a potent catch and shooter/shooting big,) and he got severely limited and inconsistent minutes... Like I've said, Bender is a great role player prospect in the mold of today's modern NBA. Is he worth the 4th pick? Absolutely not. And I'm glad Ainge is our GM, because a lot us were vying for Bender.

[footey]

too soon (20 years old) to say what he will become.  He could continue to be underwhelming. Or he could develop into a nice stretch 4/5.