Dragan Bender
Dragan Bender‘s Summer League left many wondering if he has a next level in his development, or if we have seen all there is to see in who he is and that he will ever live up to being the fourth overall pick in a draft.
The biggest disappointment in my mind is the fact that his shooting didn’t look all that good in the Summer at all. He made a few 3’s, but his shot was often rushed, he still doesn’t have an arch, and the majority of his misses were off the front of the rim – the same problem he had with his shot last season.
He too never really took any initiative in the offense, regularly picking up the dribble around the 3-point line waiting to hand the ball off to a curling point guard, never taking anyone off the dribble, and never posting up a defender who he should have size advantages over.
Therefore my bold prediction of Dragan Bender is actually a sad one, that this season will be more of the same as his first two seasons. He isn’t going to show any great strides, he’s not going to make any believers out of current none-believers, and statistically he is going to be relatively stagnant.
If he can keep his 3-point percentage above 36% that will be a victory for he and the Suns, but if no improvements come, then he may find himself wearing another team’s threads by 2019.