Dragan Bender no longer a Draft and Stash candidate

[tankcity!]

I know, it is only highlight reels but he does not look special to me.  I thought Thon Maker looked better.  Sure, Dragan demonstrated 3Pt range but what else?  RJ Hunter has 3Pt range but you need much more than that to be worth a pick in the range of what the Brooklyn pick will be.

I vote pass.

Except RJ doesn't make them.

Lol, that's why it's hard to know if this guy can truly shoot. I think there is a mental part about shooting as well. I bet Young makes all his practice shots, but when it comes to the games, he struggles. The makeup is going to be really important with this kid.

[TheSundanceKid]

This is what workouts are about. Porzingis aced his. Maybe Bender will. Maybe he won't

Porzingis showed much more promise prior to the NBA

Bender is not a CBS nor Ainge type of player.   I would be highly surprised if he is chosen with the nets pick

I would choose Jaylen Brown before Bender

I don't agree with him not being an Ainge or CBS type of player. He's a perimeter oriented guy that plays hard and can guard multiple positions. That sounds exactly like an Ainge/Stevens guy to me.

TP you beat me to it. He's just what we are looking for. I actually think he'd develop really well as part of our 2nd unit. He's a player that loves the fast break, sounds great with all the turnovers we generate

No he is not.  We already have KO

But KO is even tougher in comparison.   Bender has no mid range game.   Won't be able to post up well in the NBA due to lack of strength and toughness.

You basically have a 7 ft PF roaming around the perimeter (takes a while to setup for jump shot and needs to be really open to make the shot) ,  protecting the occasional shot, struggling to consistently boxout ala Channing Frye
 

Completely disagree with the lack of toughness. And comparing him to KO is off as well. People fixate on his height and go "oh he's going to be in the post at the 4/5. He's not. He'll be a SF/PF hybrid. And he's 18, of course he's going to have areas to improve on..

He is a fantastic perimeter defender with a greater wingspan than most perimeter defenders. And on offense he'll have a height advantage against SFs in the league. On our 2nd unit he'd play the Jerebko role, or at least that's what I'd want out of him after a full season.

He's no more of a project than Brown or Murray and he has more upside arguably than both due to his extremely good lateral movement for his height

Are you sure? You got that all from his highlights? Or do you watch his games?

Most of what I get is from the analysis draftexpress has done on him. They went over to see him, interviewed him as well.

I live in England so seeing European basketball is easier for me as well. But yeah a lot of what I say is 2nd hand analysis from what experts say, but isn't that the case with most insight on this board?

[esel1000]

I would be mindblown if DA takes someone like Bender in our position... He's a major project and our roster is heading toward a win now mode. If that pick isn't top 2 (even if it is) I wouldn't be surprised if it's traded... But if we do end up picking, I doubt it would be Bender.

[number_n9ne]

Now maybe it's just me, but the Vertical has become my main go-to source for solid basketball information. This is a great article on Bender for anyone who's curious:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/european-dispatch--getting-to-know-dragan-bender-195451386.html

Bender’s most underrated quality is his toughness. Some may look at his lanky frame and assume he’s just another soft European 7-footer who only wants to hide on the perimeter and jack up 3-pointers, but in reality that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Bender is a competitor who has a relentless motor. He was forced to sit out the initial part of a recent practice we attended to continue to rehab his foot injury (causing most of the dozen NBA scouts in attendance to leave), but begged his way back onto the floor. He proceeded to throw his body around with reckless abandon in five-on-five action. Maccabi’s staff urged him to take it easy, but Bender simply doesn’t know how to do that at this point in his career. He ended up tweaking his ankle after pursuing a rebound, which finally put him back on the sidelines.

“The kid is simply special,” a member of Maccabi’s coaching told The Vertical. “I’ve never been around someone that age with that kind of character. He’s not afraid of anything or anyone.”

In his own words
“When you step onto the court, its either 100 percent or it’s zero. … I did put a lot of work in the weight room, but I tried not to lose agility. It’s important for me not to lose all those things, to keep my quickness and speed. I am definitely not in a rush with the physical part. I am in a rush with all these fundamental things. I know that this physical part will come with the years and the extra work, with food supplements and food programs. Those things are going to come, I am focused on these little things, these little details in my game.”

High IQ, High Motor, Quickness, Size, Versatility, High Character, 3pt shot. These are all qualities Ainge/Stevens look for.

[tankcity!]

This is what workouts are about. Porzingis aced his. Maybe Bender will. Maybe he won't

Porzingis showed much more promise prior to the NBA

Bender is not a CBS nor Ainge type of player.   I would be highly surprised if he is chosen with the nets pick

I would choose Jaylen Brown before Bender

I don't agree with him not being an Ainge or CBS type of player. He's a perimeter oriented guy that plays hard and can guard multiple positions. That sounds exactly like an Ainge/Stevens guy to me.

TP you beat me to it. He's just what we are looking for. I actually think he'd develop really well as part of our 2nd unit. He's a player that loves the fast break, sounds great with all the turnovers we generate

No he is not.  We already have KO

But KO is even tougher in comparison.   Bender has no mid range game.   Won't be able to post up well in the NBA due to lack of strength and toughness.

You basically have a 7 ft PF roaming around the perimeter (takes a while to setup for jump shot and needs to be really open to make the shot) ,  protecting the occasional shot, struggling to consistently boxout ala Channing Frye
 

Completely disagree with the lack of toughness. And comparing him to KO is off as well. People fixate on his height and go "oh he's going to be in the post at the 4/5. He's not. He'll be a SF/PF hybrid. And he's 18, of course he's going to have areas to improve on..

He is a fantastic perimeter defender with a greater wingspan than most perimeter defenders. And on offense he'll have a height advantage against SFs in the league. On our 2nd unit he'd play the Jerebko role, or at least that's what I'd want out of him after a full season.

He's no more of a project than Brown or Murray and he has more upside arguably than both due to his extremely good lateral movement for his height

Are you sure? You got that all from his highlights? Or do you watch his games?

Most of what I get is from the analysis draftexpress has done on him. They went over to see him, interviewed him as well.

I live in England so seeing European basketball is easier for me as well. But yeah a lot of what I say is 2nd hand analysis from what experts say, but isn't that the case with most insight on this board?

No your point was interesting and that was why I was curious. He does remind me more of a SF/PF. That makes him very intriguing. Would Nicholas Batum be a good comp?

[tankcity!]

Now maybe it's just me, but the Vertical has become my main go-to source for solid basketball information. This is a great article on Bender for anyone who's curious:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/european-dispatch--getting-to-know-dragan-bender-195451386.html

Bender’s most underrated quality is his toughness. Some may look at his lanky frame and assume he’s just another soft European 7-footer who only wants to hide on the perimeter and jack up 3-pointers, but in reality that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Bender is a competitor who has a relentless motor. He was forced to sit out the initial part of a recent practice we attended to continue to rehab his foot injury (causing most of the dozen NBA scouts in attendance to leave), but begged his way back onto the floor. He proceeded to throw his body around with reckless abandon in five-on-five action. Maccabi’s staff urged him to take it easy, but Bender simply doesn’t know how to do that at this point in his career. He ended up tweaking his ankle after pursuing a rebound, which finally put him back on the sidelines.

“The kid is simply special,” a member of Maccabi’s coaching told The Vertical. “I’ve never been around someone that age with that kind of character. He’s not afraid of anything or anyone.”

In his own words
“When you step onto the court, its either 100 percent or it’s zero. … I did put a lot of work in the weight room, but I tried not to lose agility. It’s important for me not to lose all those things, to keep my quickness and speed. I am definitely not in a rush with the physical part. I am in a rush with all these fundamental things. I know that this physical part will come with the years and the extra work, with food supplements and food programs. Those things are going to come, I am focused on these little things, these little details in my game.”

High IQ, High Motor, Quickness, Size, Versatility, High Character, 3pt shot. These are all qualities Ainge/Stevens look for.

I'm not going to lie, you just sold me. TP. Porzingis was the same way.

[number_n9ne]

Now maybe it's just me, but the Vertical has become my main go-to source for solid basketball information. This is a great article on Bender for anyone who's curious:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/european-dispatch--getting-to-know-dragan-bender-195451386.html

Bender’s most underrated quality is his toughness. Some may look at his lanky frame and assume he’s just another soft European 7-footer who only wants to hide on the perimeter and jack up 3-pointers, but in reality that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Bender is a competitor who has a relentless motor. He was forced to sit out the initial part of a recent practice we attended to continue to rehab his foot injury (causing most of the dozen NBA scouts in attendance to leave), but begged his way back onto the floor. He proceeded to throw his body around with reckless abandon in five-on-five action. Maccabi’s staff urged him to take it easy, but Bender simply doesn’t know how to do that at this point in his career. He ended up tweaking his ankle after pursuing a rebound, which finally put him back on the sidelines.

“The kid is simply special,” a member of Maccabi’s coaching told The Vertical. “I’ve never been around someone that age with that kind of character. He’s not afraid of anything or anyone.”

In his own words
“When you step onto the court, its either 100 percent or it’s zero. … I did put a lot of work in the weight room, but I tried not to lose agility. It’s important for me not to lose all those things, to keep my quickness and speed. I am definitely not in a rush with the physical part. I am in a rush with all these fundamental things. I know that this physical part will come with the years and the extra work, with food supplements and food programs. Those things are going to come, I am focused on these little things, these little details in my game.”

High IQ, High Motor, Quickness, Size, Versatility, High Character, 3pt shot. These are all qualities Ainge/Stevens look for.

I'm not going to lie, you just sold me. TP. Porzingis was the same way.

Also, he has perfect English. Which is not as important, but helpful for a young Euro coming to the NBA.

[TheTruth]

Number9,

Thanks for the quote from Dragon.

It reaffirms my belief that coming from Europe, that he will be ahead of the curve when it comes to fundamentals.

[Denis998]

Bender is the Worst top 10 prospect in the last decade.

[Evantime34]

Here's some more quotes on Bender

Thanks to a 2013 trade that had them deal Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to an incredibly desperate Nets team, the Celtics hold Brooklyn's 1st round picks for the next two seasons. In this year's draft, there really isn't a player that can really immediately help this playoff-bound squad, but Dragan Bender definitely has the highest upside. The 7'1 Bender is the epitome of a stretch big, as Croatian big is shooting 41% in his limited role with Maccabi Tel Aviv. For a player his size, he has a pretty solid stroke with a quick and smooth release which seems to be pretty repeatable.

Perhaps more important than his potential as a stretch big is just how incredibly quick he is. Bender definitely realizes how fast he is for a man his size, as he seems to love to move around off-ball for cuts or to come out of absolute nowhere for offensive rebounds and putbacks. He actually might be at his best as a rebounder when he's moving around as even Euroleague bigs have easily taken advantage of his slim frame. However, his quickness and genuine hustle should allow him to be a solid rebounder in a similar mold to Kristaps Porzingis as he builds on his frame.

Bender will definitely have time to do that as he won't turn 19 until the start of the 2016-17 season. While he's currently in the 2nd year of a seven-year contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv, the 7'1 prospect does have an NBA out in his contract for this summer. Would be intriguing to see what direction the Celtics would go when it comes to Bender, as his perimeter shot and hustle gives him some of the traits that Brad Stevens would absolutely love. However, his extremely slender frame gives some doubt about whether he'd last through an entire 82 game NBA season. Nevertheless, The Celtics seem like an ideal fit for Bender, as he'll be able to grow and progress in one of the best systems in the NBA.

http://www.ridiculousupside.com/2016/4/6/11341888/2016-nba-mock-draft-dakota-schmidt-lottery-prospects-ncaa-video-analysis

Bender stands at 7-1 but is very agile for someone his height. He can sprint up the court to finish with power in transition and has flashed second jump-ability to fight for tip-ins on the offensive glass, when a tougher big man doesn’t erase him out of the play completely with a physical box out.

But Bender’s mobility is perhaps even more promising with regards to his potential defending in space. Obviously, he is not suited to pick up speedy point guards on switches and have to navigate ball-screens, but Bender has proven able to bend his knees to get in a stance, move laterally and keep pace with less athletic wings like Alessandro Gentile and Mindaugas Kuzminskas in isolation. His 7-2 wingspan makes it extremely tough for an opponent to shoot over him off the bounce without creating a good amount of separation first.

As a help defender, Bender can cut off dribble penetration containing the pick-and-roll as a big and has long strides to crash inside to bump a big rolling to the basket and then closeout to a weak-side spot-up shooter. More critically, he has often been able to run the shooter off the 3-point line and maintain his balance to defend the dribble drive.

That’s really what makes Bender so appealing — the chance that he might be the sort of “power-forward” who can not only make plays for others attacking closeouts and passing out of the shot roll but also draw a big defender all the way to the perimeter, run pick-and-roll and force that defender to guard in a way he is not accustomed to.

http://upsidemotor.com/2016/01/18/dragan-bender-2016-nba-draft-scouting-report-maccabi-tel-aviv/

[Quetzalcoatl]

Ha Maccabi finally started giving him minutes after benching him all year to make him happy, then it totally backfired as he's been playing really well.  He's been slated this high all year based 100% on potential and it looks like he's getting there faster than expected.  I'm really warming up to him now a lot

Really well
In the last 6 games 7.5p(40% 3p) , 4reb in 17mins
He has improved you are correct but i can`t describe this production as really good. Especially taking into account that he is not playing in a strong league.

He's gotten 3, 13, 12, 8, 7, 17 over his last six.  Averaging those out, it's 10.5 ppg.  You can get all the box scores in here: http://maccabi.co.il/GameZone.asp?GameID=8321&cYear=2016&lang=en#sthash.WJK9DyyU.dpbs

That's not like amazing or anything, but he is looking like he is worthy of a very high lotto pick for sure. 

[LooseCannon]

I never got the excitement over Bender. the guy didn't even play enough this year to get a highlights you tube video.
He could turn into to something special, but at 3-4 pick I rather go with a safer pick.

The choice between a risky pick with less data who could turn into something special or a safer pick with a lower ceiling where you have a firmer grasp of his likely value is sort of like Giannis vs Olynyk, but at a higher draft slot.

Ultimately, what matters is inside Bender's head, which we're not going to get from watching youtube videos.  And focusing on highlight reels tends to lead to overvaluing athleticism.

[PhoSita]

The choice between a risky pick with less data who could turn into something special or a safer pick with a lower ceiling where you have a firmer grasp of his likely value is sort of like Giannis vs Olynyk, but at a higher draft slot.

This is a good point, but if we expanded the sample size to include, I dunno, a dozen examples of that kind of decision, how often does the Euro mystery box work out as smashingly as Giannis has?

I mean, Mike Dunleavy Jr. versus Nikoloz Tskitishvilli worked out pretty well for the Warriors.

[Donoghus]

The choice between a risky pick with less data who could turn into something special or a safer pick with a lower ceiling where you have a firmer grasp of his likely value is sort of like Giannis vs Olynyk, but at a higher draft slot.

This is a good point, but if we expanded the sample size to include, I dunno, a dozen examples of that kind of decision, how often does the Euro mystery box work out as smashingly as Giannis has?

I mean, Mike Dunleavy Jr. versus Nikoloz Tskitishvilli worked out pretty well for the Warriors.

Its certainly risky.  It's not going to help matters that Porzingis worked out so well from last year's draft.  A team might talk themselves into the Euro mystery box just so they don't miss out on, potentially, could be the next Porzingis.  Speaking to the concept, not the actual player comparing to Porzingis.

[CFAN38]

I may be stuck on the hype train but outside of Simmons and Ingram Bender is the clear next best prospect for me. There is always a larger bust risk in taking a Euro but his ceiling and system fit just seems to perfect to pass up on.

With #3 pick and no good trade options available I take Bender and plan on a solid season of D-League growth.