So you are saying that Bender could contribute more to a struggling team but because he wants to leave they don`t use him? I find it a bit hard to believe ....
Young players do get play time if they prove they can actually help their teams. Vezenkov at 19 was MVP of the Greek league , definately better than the Israeli league.
Porzingis was a 20mpg player in ACB and 2 times All young ACB team
Galinari and Belineli were stars in Italy , so where the Gasols.
BTW B Jenkins wasn`t just some guy who played in Italy. Was considered a top prospect because of his performance and because of his body type
In the year when Porzingis was Bender's age, he averaged 15.2 mpg, 6.9 points, 2.8 rebounds.
And what are Bender's averages right now?
In his current league, Israeli-BSL, over 25 games Bender has averaged 13.6 minutes, 5.48 points, 2.68 rebounds. Bender is shooting 47.9% FG, 41.1% 3PT & 73.3% FT over those 25 games.
On a per-minute basis, pretty similar numbers to Porzingis at the same age, though with better 3PT & FT shooting percentages.
Bender also played in 3 EuroCup games, averaging just 4 minutes and 7 Euroleague games, averaging 10.5 minutes. His performance in those has been pretty forgettable.
Some statements have been thrown down earlier in this thread to the extent that Bender is being criticized for not getting minutes despite playing on a crappy team in a crappy league. Israeli-BSL is not at the same level as Spanish-ACB, but it is a fairly strong professional league. It has a few former NBA players scattered about on rosters (Nate Robinson is playing on the Hapoel Tel Aviv team). Bender's team, Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv is currently 22-9, so they are not a crappy team and they are playing to win games. His team's roster is dominated by veterans mostly between ages 25-32. So he is basically a baby teenager on that roster.
As I've said elsewhere, I don't know enough about Bender to assert that Danny should take him with the BKN pick or not. I am just trying to cut through the noise that people who also clearly don't know much about him keep spewing about. I'll trust Danny will do his best to properly scout and vet Bender and all the other players as well.