Imagine DeAndre Ayton and Dragan Bender together

Twin-Tower Defense

One reason why I have personally wanted the Suns to trade up for Mohamed Bamba is because of the twin-tower defense that he and Ayton would be able to provide. It is no pipe-dream to think of Ayton and Bamba as the same kind of offensive and defensive duo as Tim Duncan and David Robinson.

Dragan Bender is no Mo Bamba. But he is no slouch on defense either.

While Bender would often be left flat-footed as defenders rose above him for fear of elevating with and drawing the foul, Bender has both the length and quickness to stay in front of his opponents, from guards to centers.

Phoenix Suns

Obviously you would never want Bender to be defending a guard with any regularity, and his lack of strength and size last season prevented him from holding off other bigs (there is no denying that he would get pushed around a lot), if his body continues to develop and this offseason he hits the weights adding strength and size (which I feel very confident that he has, is, and it will continue to happen), Bender will continue to improve as a defensive player.

Again, I do not compare him to Bamba and therefore do not expect him to be anything all too special on defense. But capable and serviceable are often good enough, especially when there is a defense system set up in place around him to help make up for deficiencies.

It is hard to imagine how good Bender will ever be on defense. He failed to average even 1.0 blocks per-36 last season (finishing with 0.9), and he doesn’t have the quickest hands either, only averaging 0.4 steals per-36 as well. However, he was tied for the fourth best Defense Win Share (DWS) on the roster with 0.8, most notably tied with Tyson Chandler, arguably the team’s best defensive player (although Chriss led the team at 1.5 DWS).

Bender can and should improve with both the addition of size and strength, as well as overall system improvement. One aspect to assist with that is having Ayton in the post with him.

While Ayton too isn’t considered the best defender, his size and quickness will immediately pay dividends to the team on defense in the post. Bender also played an extraordinary estimated 34% of his time at center, something he will have to do much less of with Ayton on the roster, and in the same lineup as Ayton as well.

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With confidence in his position on defense, as well as knowing that he will have Ayton next to him to help watch his back, Bender should be more and more willing to take risks on defense that will result in more blocks and potentially steals.

While I doubt he’ll ever average 2+ blocks per game, I do not believe that he’ll need to do so to be an effective defensive player. Keeping his man in front of him, being able to withstand a bit more of a pounding in the post with added size and strength, and having a player like Ayton to funnel defenders towards to pin between the two of them, will all be enough to keep opponents from wanting to drive the lane and get in between the two 7-footers.