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.
That's not really true. He played 20+ minutes in 60+ games, including close to 30 mpg in the last couple of months when he was made starter. He was just plain horrible, including a March stint in which he averaged 5.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in nearly 30 mpg over 14 games.
edit: Reading is hard....
Because statistics should always be applied and used as the final say to determining the career trajectory, to young bigs like Bender, who is a project, in a really terrible team with coaches getting fired left and right? This is a team that celebrated in lieu of a loss for their star shooting guard scoring 70 points despite the awful display.
Have you actually watched any Suns games? Bender seems lost half of the time, but other half of the times, he's making smart plays.
And oh by the way, reading is hard... Thanks, I appreciate it.
I'm not defending Bender by any means. I'm simply saying his career isn't over. Yet. He's still 20, younger than most of the draft prospects in the league.