What Could Happen?
We have no idea what playing time Bender would have received in the final two months of the season had he been able to play after P.J. Tucker was traded and Tyson Chandler was benched. Who knows too what the rotations would have worked out to be. But without injuries or foul trouble, and everyone on the roster fair game to play, it is safe to say that Bender was never going to get 25+ minutes off the bench with any consistency, and as other players around him develop – and the roster is bolstered through the draft and trade – it just seems highly unlikely that that will happen in the 2017-18 season too.
The problem that Bender has – or that the Suns have in him – is that in order to guarantee himself a long term spot with the Phoenix Suns, there is an imminence for him to take long skill strides more quickly than maybe he would have been expected, based solely upon who is available and likely to be selected with the fourth pick in the draft. Alex Len is the only front court starter that might not return (minus potentially T.J. Warren if the Suns draft Jackson), and even he could still very well be re-signed. If every current forward/center is retained and either Jackson, Tatum, or Issacs is drafted, then the depth at the front court will push Bender back.
This all then leads to the possibility that Bender is placed in a trade package this offseason should a move for a more established young star become available. I have personally said in prior posts that Chriss could be the lead in a package for a player such as Kristaps Porzingis. Instead, maybe the Suns would offer Dragan Bender as the main young player shipped off, or the combination of both Bender and Chriss could be a solid enough return to make such a trade (while flipping draft picks) a reality.
Of course, there is always the hopeful possibility that Bender takes a significant step forward this next season and becomes an integral player off the bench putting pressure on others for a starting spot. Unfortunately, it just appears that even if he were – and no one else took a step back – he would only be playing as an audition for another team who has other pieces the Suns need more imminently to improve.
No one is happy with a bust and I most certainly will not tag Bender with that label in anyway. But because of the combination of his lack of a significant impact last season and the positional strengths of the Suns’ spot in the draft, there is the chance that Bender does not have a spot in the team’s depth either now, or in the very near future.