Although Dragan Bender is still more than a year away from being able to legally purchase a beer, many Phoenix Suns fans are ready to write him off as a bust.
A closer look at his rookie stats and summer participation in Eurobasket and the NBA Summer League revealed a positive progression and evidence that Bender should improve in his sophomore campaign with the Suns.
In this day and age instant gratification reigns supreme, particularly in sports. If players and coaches aren’t able to make an instant impact, fans will clamor for a change.
This applies to Dragan Bender as well.
Bender was selected with the 4th overall pick in 2016 as a project. He was a player who was literally “two years away from being two years away” and although his rookie season was indeed disappointing in several ways, we seem to have forgotten how young and raw Bender truly is.
There is no doubt that Bender was disappointing in his first NBA season. He was almost completely ineffective on the offensive end of the court and showed he has a long ways to go to become a consistent offensive threat.
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However, fans need to keep a couple of things in mind when evaluating his rookie campaign. He got hurt near the half-way point of the season, which can be devastating to a rookie just finding his rhythm. Bender was also never expected to contribute offensively right away, his basketball IQ and his defensive abilities are where his current strengths lay, and he certainly showed flashes of this not his before and after his mid-season surgery.
The Suns’ team defense improved when Bender was on the court and his disappointing offensive stats weren’t due to anything related to basketball IQ. All in all, Bender had the rookie season that should have been expected of him when he was drafted.
Fast forward to the 2017 offseason and Bender is already showing signs of improvement, both in NBA Summer League and in Eurobasket 2017.
Bender started his offseason by participating in his second NBA Summer League. Right away, Bender was more efficient on the offensive end and ended up being one of the bigger offensive threats on the Suns’ summer squad. Dragan ended Vegas averaging over 14 points per game on 39.4% shooting, adding 6.0 rebounds per game as well.
Although the shooting percentage is not a huge gain over his rookie year, the drastic increase in volume from the NBA regular season to Summer League coupled with a shooting percentage increase is a very good sign for Bender’s offensive development.
Bender followed up his Summer League stint by appearing in Eurobasket 2017 for his native Croatia. Dragan wasn’t as much as a force in Eurobasket as he was in Vegas but he played very efficiently, shooting over 47% from the field while averaging just over 15 minutes per game.
Dragan obviously still has a ways to go to become a consistent NBA threat on the offensive end. However, he’s showing signs of improvement and his defensive ability will enable him to stay on the court to get vital experience on the offensive end.
Next: Phoenix Suns Complete 2017 Offseason Recap
Some Suns fans already view Bender as a bust, but he is progressing exactly as scouts expected when he was drafted. Remember, he hasn’t even turned 20-years-old yet. Bender still has terrific potential and he should improve in every aspect of his game this season. Quite the opposite of a draft bust, look for Dragan to be a much larger contributor on the court this season.