Dragan Bender

[Mainstreet]

I really wanted Myles Turner until someone posted some medical concerns about his legs and the way he was forced to run. Then, I switched to Portis as my dream target. I was also comfortable with the idea of making a move for Kaminsky. As I recall, the first poster I heard pushing for Booker was Chris Sanders. Anyway, it would have been a bad draft that year had I been running it. But OTOH, a year later I wouldn't have touched Chriss and I was totally ignorant on Bender so I probably would have avoided that mess too.

As I recall you got me liking Portis later on. He was off my radar but you had me open to the idea of drafting him after I saw him play.

I didn't like the idea of the Suns drafting Chriss at #4 but I was fine with trading for him at #8. LOL

I thought McDonough knew something more than the average fan about Bender. Unfortunately he didn't.

Looking back, the 2016 draft wasn't that great after the first few picks but McDonough should have hit on on one of the two top 10 picks.

 

[1Sun]

As I recall you got me liking Portis later on. He was off my radar but you had me open to the idea of drafting him after I saw him play.

I didn't like the idea of the Suns drafting Chriss at #4 but I was fine with trading for him at #8. LOL

I thought McDonough knew something more than the average fan about Bender. Unfortunately he didn't.

Looking back, the 2016 draft wasn't that great after the first few picks but McDonough should have hit on on one of the two top 10 picks.

Or if not hit, at least not whiff so badly...

 

[Mainstreet]

Or if not hit, at least not whiff so badly...

This was certainly my hope. It would have been nice to draft Brogdon in the 2nd round.

 

[Yuma]

I don't think it was that much of a whiff in the draft. Bender did show promise. The start of his second season he was clearly better than Chriss in my opinion. It's all mental with him. He has regressed from early in his second season. Why? No one has written anything on that. Plus he's only twenty. He just doesn't have that toughness yet. I know looking back I was not that confident when I was twenty either.

You gotta remember, this guy became a millionaire before he was twenty. He hasn't had to struggle that long in life. I can see where you may be really intimidated palying among men when you are twenty.

 

[95pro]

I'd say...Chriss bad, Bender much worse.

Haha yeah just saying Chriss was the better of the two.

 

[Errntknght]

I remember during that draft when it was announced that the Suns picked Labissiere at 27 I thought at least we picked one guy that can play basketball. Of course, we were picking for the Kings. I'd been hoping for Sabonis or Labissiere and maybe a flyer on Maker at 27. Bender? WTF? Chriss? An atheletic big who doesn't rebound? After that, I was tickled we got Ulis in the early second round... I thought his floor would be Ish Smith, who I liked as a play maker for us.

 

[taz02]

The only justification for that would be if they decided that Chriss's attitude was unsalvagable. And maybe it is, in which case, okay. But in terms of what they bring to the court, Chriss was the better option to retain, and it's not close.

Pretty hard to argue with that after these last 2 games. It was really bad.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Pretty hard to argue with that after these last 2 games. It was really bad.

Other than maybe a 2 or 3 week stretch last season, Chriss has always been the better player. That's not saying much, unfortunately.

 

[95pro]

I remember during that draft when it was announced that the Suns picked Labissiere at 27 I thought at least we picked one guy that can play basketball. Of course, we were picking for the Kings. I'd been hoping for Sabonis or Labissiere and maybe a flyer on Maker at 27. Bender? WTF? Chriss? An atheletic big who doesn't rebound? After that, I was tickled we got Ulis in the early second round... I thought his floor would be Ish Smith, who I liked as a play maker for us.

Ish Smith would be welcomed right now. I remember him making some nice passes and blocks too.

 

[NashDishesDimes]

Problem is Dragan is still young and raw and could develop but the NBA doesnt wait for you. The suns have too many guys that need looks and minutes and hes gojng to find himself as the odd man out.

Ive been saying for a while, mcdonough is dumb for just stacking too many rookies. We need to start trading picks for future better picks. Coaches cant focus on developing 10 young guys in practice and suns dont have the minutes to go around. Good players are going to leave here and develop elsewhere.

 

[Yuma]

The thing that is so frustrating, is someone faster, bigger, etc. will try and get by Bender, and he will play perfect defense. You can SEE that potential. Then the next time down someone will blow by him! Very few times last year, he would get hot and hit two or three 3's in a row, and you would go wow. There was one game last year he hit a three, went down the floor, made a block, got the ball, then when he went down the floor he hits another three. The other team calls a time out, and you go FINALLY! Finally he gets it. Then after the time out he never touches the ball, or passes away when he does get it and fades into the background for the rest of the game. Bender had a 17 point game last year that was as good a 17 point game I have ever seen when combined with the blocks and defense, and then nothing. For brief views you can see he CAN do it. He has the skills. He just will not do it all the time. There have been hints by EJ about confidence. My god, get this guy a sports therapist, or a hypnotist.

 

[Errntknght]

Problem is Dragan is still young and raw and could develop but the NBA doesnt wait for you. The suns have too many guys that need looks and minutes and hes gojng to find himself as the odd man out.

Ive been saying for a while, mcdonough is dumb for just stacking too many rookies. We need to start trading picks for future better picks. Coaches cant focus on developing 10 young guys in practice and suns dont have the minutes to go around. Good players are going to leave here and develop elsewhere.

Is there a limit on how many assistant coaches a team can have? If there isn't then when you have too many young guys hire more assistants to work with them. Sure it will take some thought and some organization but, compared to salaries you're paying the cost is almost insignificant. I'd go so far as to say that it's stupid not to build an organization for bringing along your new players. One blown #5 pick will cost you much more than you could possibly spend. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the more successful teams put a lot more work into it than we do.

 

[Phrazbit]

If McD's non-Ayton moves from this summer don't work out then he should be gone. IMO, Ayton was a no-brainer. He did well to draft Warren and especially Booker given our draft slots, he deserves credit for that. He did well to salvage what he could with Dragic, the original Bledsoe trade was a heist, almost everything he did that first year turned to gold(besides drafting Len, but that entire draft was a disaster). He also deserves fault for the travesty that Bender seems to be and the waste of capital with Chriss and especially, Brandon Knight.

I think McD has a better eye for talent than a lot of GMs, and I think he is good at swinging trades but far too often does so from a bad starting point because he's misjudged his own roster's personalities. That is his biggest weakness. He seems to approach his job like someone running a fantasy team, with little regard for the fragile ego of young millionaires.

Hopefully he is learning. He didn't sling mud at any of our recently departed.

Ainge looked like trash as a GM for a good 4 years, Kerr had serious struggles with us and I think he'd be a great one now. Hopefully the patience of letting a young GM learn pays off.

But... I'm not holding my breath.

The team needs to show leaps of improvement.

Basically, I want to feel like we're a "point guard of the future" away from being a serious playoff team come April.

And no 1sun, that is not an endorsement for dumping picks and assets for some 30 year old we will need to replace in a year.

 

[ColdPickleNachos]

Unpopular opinion alert...

McDonough is getting too much hate recently.

I agree he has made a lot of mistakes. I agree the point guard situation is ridiculous. I agree that the 2016 draft was a huge bummer.

But the NBA is about stars. They're gold, and they're not easy to find until they're almost 30. Devin Booker looks like a star. Deandre Ayton (and I know this is based on far too little evidence) looks like a star. If both of those players are what we think and hope they are, then everything else so far has been a bonus.

I know Hinkie got fired, but most people seem to think that was a bad move. The 76ers are already a contender to come out of the East despite the fact that they are super young. Why? They struck gold with Embiid and Simmons.

Redick and Covington are nice role players. Saric was a nice pick.

But think of these DISASTERS that have happened for them:

• Jahlil Okafor as the #3 pick, right before Kristaps Porzingis
• Nerlens Noel with the #6 pick and MCW at #11. Granted, that was a tough draft, but they traded Jrue Holiday to get Noel.
• Instead of staying put and taking Jayson Tatum at 3, they gave up a coveted pick to get Fultz. (I know this was Colangelo, but it looks so bad in retrospect I have to include it.)

That's a lot of huge mistakes with a lot of great opportunities, and nobody cares because when you get two young superstars you are the envy of the league.

Now, is McD the right guy to take us to the next step? Maybe not. But I for one appreciate that he got us where we're at, with two players under 21 that I wouldn't trade for almost anyone.

 

[JCSunsfan]

If McD's non-Ayton moves from this summer don't work out then he should be gone. IMO, Ayton was a no-brainer. He did well to draft Warren and especially Booker given our draft slots, he deserves credit for that. He did well to salvage what he could with Dragic, the original Bledsoe trade was a heist, almost everything he did that first year turned to gold(besides drafting Len, but that entire draft was a disaster). He also deserves fault for the travesty that Bender seems to be and the waste of capital with Chriss and especially, Brandon Knight.

I think McD has a better eye for talent than a lot of GMs, and I think he is good at swinging trades but far too often does so from a bad starting point because he's misjudged his own roster's personalities. That is his biggest weakness. He seems to approach his job like someone running a fantasy team, with little regard for the fragile ego of young millionaires.

Hopefully he is learning. He didn't sling mud at any of our recently departed.

Ainge looked like trash as a GM for a good 4 years, Kerr had serious struggles with us and I think he'd be a great one now. Hopefully the patience of letting a young GM learn pays off.

But... I'm not holding my breath.

The team needs to show leaps of improvement.

Basically, I want to feel like we're a "point guard of the future" away from being a serious playoff team come April.

And no 1sun, that is not an endorsement for dumping picks and assets for some 30 year old we will need to replace in a year.

I would not mind a 30 year old pg who actually plays well and could be here for five years--like Nash when we signed him. But not just a stop gap. We are building a team, not trying to make a run in a closing window.

 

[Errntknght]

I would not mind a 30 year old pg who actually plays well and could be here for five years--like Nash when we signed him. But not just a stop gap. We are building a team, not trying to make a run in a closing window.

McD might not see it that way. In fact, I'm surprised that he hasn't made a rather silly, short term move already. We probably owe it to Kokoshav that he hasn't and that he sent Knight packing. I imagine Igor has a longer view than Ryan does since it's almost a cinch that the team will improve significantly - unless, against all odds, 1Sun has it right. (Is it possible that he is flooding the board with vitriol so that Slin will appear more reasoned by comparison?)

 

[JCSunsfan]

McD might not see it that way. In fact, I'm surprised that he hasn't made a rather silly, short term move already. We probably owe it to Kokoshav that he hasn't and that he sent Knight packing. I imagine Igor has a longer view than Ryan does since it's almost a cinch that the team will improve significantly - unless, against all odds, 1Sun has it right. (Is it possible that he is flooding the board with vitriol so that Slin will appear more reasoned by comparison?)

The one thing Ryan has not done has been panic moves. The only one that can be characterized that way I think would be trading Goran, but it was the trade deadline and he did get a great offer. He waited 5 months to trade Kieff. He waited a month and a half to trade Bledsoe. If anything, he is too deliberate.

 

[Mainstreet]

The one thing Ryan has not done has been panic moves. The only one that can be characterized that way I think would be trading Goran, but it was the trade deadline and he did get a great offer. He waited 5 months to trade Kieff. He waited a month and a half to trade Bledsoe. If anything, he is too deliberate.

I guess my mind wanted to fill in the blank. For a moment I thought you were going to say McDonough waited 5 minutes before trading for Knight.

 

[Cheesebeef]

The one thing Ryan has not done has been panic moves. The only one that can be characterized that way I think would be trading Goran, but it was the trade deadline and he did get a great offer. He waited 5 months to trade Kieff. He waited a month and a half to trade Bledsoe. If anything, he is too deliberate.

how was Knight anything but a panic move?

 

[sunsfan88]

Ryan McDonough has way too many undeserved fans imo.

Yeah the team may be in a good place now but that doesn’t erase the many, many errors he made to get here. And no, I don’t give him credit for getting the #1 overall pick in this draft.

If all the Suns wanted to do was to get a GM that could guarantee them the least amount of wins for a season, I could’ve done for it them and I would cost a lot less than McD.

 

[SirStefan32]

Blast from the past:
https://www.nba.com/suns/blog/experts-grade-suns-2016-nba-draft-class#

 

[elindholm]

Blast from the past:
https://www.nba.com/suns/blog/experts-grade-suns-2016-nba-draft-class#

The most interesting take-away for me there is that the "experts" thought that Chriss had just as much potential to spread the floor as Bender did. I always thought that also, but somehow this board decided that Bender was going to be the shooter. Even now, the myth persists that Chriss (assuming he had panned out) would have been a poor fit with Ayton, which is nonsense.

 

[Superbone]

Chriss is a much worse shooter from 3 than Bender. I don't care what the stats say but Bender's threes are usually close whereas Chriss' are all over the place.

 

[Hoop Head]

how was Knight anything but a panic move?

Acquiring him was a panic move, trading him wasn't. I think that deadline counts against him. While he got a good offer for Dragic, he also threw away a lot for Knight and gifted IT to Boston for no real reason. Dragic wanted out, we didn't need to trade IT. If Knight was acquired to make a push for the playoffs then IT should have been kept for the same reason. Who knows if he makes the Knight trade if he holds onto IT.

 

[Chaplin]

The most interesting take-away for me there is that the "experts" thought that Chriss had just as much potential to spread the floor as Bender did. I always thought that also, but somehow this board decided that Bender was going to be the shooter. Even now, the myth persists that Chriss (assuming he had panned out) would have been a poor fit with Ayton, which is nonsense.

Why is it nonsense? Because you disagree with it?