Dragan Bender

[3rdside]

http://arizonasports.com/story/1435...d-will-be-a-big-month-for-suns-dragan-bender/


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[Hoop Head]

I knew Bender is young but he's just the 14th youngest player in the league despite having a full season under his belt. Saw that mentioned in another article and did some searching and found this article which lists the 20 youngest players in the league this season. Bender is younger than most rookies this year. It's way too early to give up on him. He needs to be more aggressive but he is just 20 years old still.

https://classactsports.com/youngest-nba-players-2017-18-season/

 

[Phrazbit]

I never like when a player is invisible out there.

One of the reasons I didn't get slightly nervous about Jackson when he was playing like butt early in the year was because he was super active, you never were not aware Jackson was on the court, if anything he needed to slow down a little.

Bender... not so much. Way too passive.

 

[SirStefan32]

I never like when a player is invisible out there.

One of the reasons I didn't get slightly nervous about Jackson when he was playing like butt early in the year was because he was super active, you never were not aware Jackson was on the court, if anything he needed to slow down a little.

Bender... not so much. Way too passive.

Agreed! Don't get me wrong, I am not ready to give up on Bender, but sometimes he is invisible for 3-4 games at a time.

 

[Hoop Head]

Decided to look up where Bender was from, thinking perhaps a fellow countryman might help get him out of his shell and the Suns had 2 of them recently in Bogdan Bogdanovich and Mirza Teletovic, they're with the Kings and Bucks respectively. I wouldn't mind having Mirza over Dudley since he's a true stretch 4, while Dudley certainly is not. Maybe the Suns can make a run at Jusef Nurkic from Portland in the offseason, who is also from that region. All played with Bender on the Bosnian & Herzegovina national teams. Ivica Zubac (Lakers), Dario Saric (76ers), Mario Hezonja (Magic), and Ante Zivic (Cavaliers) are the other NBA players from that region.

I liked Nurkic as a target before learning he played with Bender, that's just an added bonus. He's been good in Portland and they're strapped for cash so he might be available. He's averaged 14.4 ppg and 9.0 rebounds in Portland the last year and a half. That's not great but it's not bad. I think it's more realistic that the Suns could sign him instead of Capela. I see the Rockets matching any offer for Capela but they may hesitate to match a max offer and I wouldn't want the Suns to be stuck paying him that much. Portland is right at the luxury tax line though and they might not be able to afford to keep him for more than $10 million annually. He's a big piece of them remaining a playoff team, they struggled last year before acquiring him at the trade deadline.

Posted that in the wrong thread before.

 

[NashDishesDimes]

Yeah my fear like most is he has all the gifts, just not might not have the right mindset. Its a shock for these guys to come overseas.

 

[BC867]

Yeah my fear like most is he has all the gifts, just not might not have the right mindset. Its a shock for these guys to come overseas.

I realize there's a culture shock playing in a new country. But you'd think that, once they're on the court, their basketball instincts would kick in.

Unless European basketball is based upon non-competitive behavior. It is hard to believe that would be the case.

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

Bender is physically soft, and Chriss is mentally soft. Should call them the Charmin Bros.

 

[Lefty]

Trade him after this season.

 

[sunsfan88]

Bender is physically soft, and Chriss is mentally soft. Should call them the Charmin Bros.

Not bad actually

 

[sunsfan88]

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Glad to see Kokoskov saying this. At this point, babying him hasn’t worked at all but perhaps some tough love might.

 

[Krangodnzr]

I'm done with Bender. He should relegated to the end of the bench with minimal minutes unless he figures it out.

 

[Ronin]

That is being perfectly honest.

 

[sunsfan88]

I knew Bender is young but he's just the 14th youngest player in the league despite having a full season under his belt. Saw that mentioned in another article and did some searching and found this article which lists the 20 youngest players in the league this season. Bender is younger than most rookies this year. It's way too early to give up on him. He needs to be more aggressive but he is just 20 years old still.

https://classactsports.com/youngest-nba-players-2017-18-season/

Age can’t be an excuse for him forever. He’s going into his third year meaning he’s had two full years of NBA experience. He’s gone through three coaches and has looked equally bad with all three at least thus far.

He just needs to grow up already and be ready to play.

And looks like Kokoskov agrees as well:

“It’s coming with age, but he’s got to grow up fast,” continued Kokoskov about the 20-year-old Bender.

https://eu.azcentral.com/story/spor...-more-natural-shooter-than-booker/1469842002/

 

[JCSunsfan]

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

Glad to see Kokoskov saying this. At this point, babying him hasn’t worked at all but perhaps some tough love might.

Wow. That is brutally honest. Has to be said though. He is not going to reach his potential by pretending everything is OK.

 

[SirStefan32]

Igor is absolutely right, and his approach is spot-on for European players in particular. They are actually not used to babying.

 

[95pro]

You'd think Bender is from Canada..."sorry"

Nash is the exception.

 

[Hoop Head]

Age has been in Bender's favor the last 2 seasons but it doesn't fly any longer. I was willing to give him a pass as a 2nd year rookie of sorts because he was so young and missed most of his actual rookie season. Now that he's been around an NBA team and treated as an NBA player for 2 years, its time he shows he is a legit NBA player. I don't expect him to light it up out of the gate this year but he does need to earn his playing time. A bad game can be forgiven, it can't be the norm though. This is make or break time for him. He doesn't need to play up to his draft position, it would be nice if he did, but he does need to play like a legit NBA talent. That's what I hope and expect to see this season.

I know some may not like the comparison but if he can play like Len did last season, I can live with that. That's sort of the bar for him, IMO. Len wasn't great but he did ok. He played like a backup NBA big. It was time for the Suns to move on from him but he proved to be an NBA player, albeit a limited player. Bender is more skilled so I expect him to produce more than Len but I'll give Len credit for not appearing so lost on the floor last year and when inserted into the starting lineup or getting more minutes, he seemed to rise to the occasion. The results weren't always there but the effort was. That's what I want from Bender this year. I hope for a lot more but that's the bare minimum that I expect if he wants to make it to year 4 of his rookie deal here in Phoenix.

 

[Mainstreet]

Age has been in Bender's favor the last 2 seasons but it doesn't fly any longer. I was willing to give him a pass as a 2nd year rookie of sorts because he was so young and missed most of his actual rookie season. Now that he's been around an NBA team and treated as an NBA player for 2 years, its time he shows he is a legit NBA player. I don't expect him to light it up out of the gate this year but he does need to earn his playing time. A bad game can be forgiven, it can't be the norm though. This is make or break time for him. He doesn't need to play up to his draft position, it would be nice if he did, but he does need to play like a legit NBA talent. That's what I hope and expect to see this season.

I know some may not like the comparison but if he can play like Len did last season, I can live with that. That's sort of the bar for him, IMO. Len wasn't great but he did ok. He played like a backup NBA big. It was time for the Suns to move on from him but he proved to be an NBA player, albeit a limited player. Bender is more skilled so I expect him to produce more than Len but I'll give Len credit for not appearing so lost on the floor last year and when inserted into the starting lineup or getting more minutes, he seemed to rise to the occasion. The results weren't always there but the effort was. That's what I want from Bender this year. I hope for a lot more but that's the bare minimum that I expect if he wants to make it to year 4 of his rookie deal here in Phoenix.

I think what you are saying is correct. Playing like Alex Len would be a gigantic step for Bender. The NBA court seems even more foreign to Bender.

 

[Superbone]

I just changed my vote. I'm done with him. His play in game 1 of preseason was atrocious. I mean comically bad. Like you couldn't have scripted worse play once he entered the game.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I just changed my vote. I'm done with him. His play in game 1 of preseason was atrocious. I mean comically bad. Like you couldn't have scripted worse play once he entered the game.

I didn't care for any of the choices so I settled on "unsure". I'm not unsure at all as I am certainly not happy we drafted him but I can't vote for trading him right now. He has untapped potential that I highly doubt will ever get tapped. But I can't imagine he'd have any trade value whatsoever so why bother? Give Koko and kompany this year to work with him and just let him play out his contract if he doesn't show real improvement. Not that I'd turn down a trade, mind you, I just can't envision getting anything back in return that we'd actually want.

 

[Superbone]

I didn't care for any of the choices so I settled on "unsure". I'm not unsure at all as I am certainly not happy we drafted him but I can't vote for trading him right now. He has untapped potential that I highly doubt will ever get tapped. But I can't imagine he'd have any trade value whatsoever so why bother? Give Koko and kompany this year to work with him and just let him play out his contract if he doesn't show real improvement. Not that I'd turn down a trade, mind you, I just can't envision getting anything back in return that we'd actually want.

For me it's more about addition by subtraction. Cut our losses. Let others get his minutes. I don't care about getting value from a trade as I don't think anybody values him. And why should they?

 

[ColdPickleNachos]

I was trying to think who we could get for Bender...Maybe there was another bust in the top 10 of the 2016 draft who could use a change of scenery...and I found him! Houston has this kid Marquese Chriss. He's been awful, but someone thought he was worth a top 10 pick at some point. Lots of potential.

 

[AzStevenCal]

For me it's more about addition by subtraction. Cut our losses. Let others get his minutes. I don't care about getting value from a trade as I don't think anybody values him. And why should they?

I'd be fine if the coach wants to cut him, I don't know that we gain much by doing so though. AFAIC, he hasn't earned any playing time so I'm not expecting to see him in the games unless that changes.

 

[Phrazbit]

I'm not sure what the cut off date is for declining his 2019/20 option, if it hasn't happened I know it's soon.

I think I'm ready to accept them declining it. That 6 mil could come in handy next summer.