Suns select Dragan Bender with No. 4 pick in 2016 NBA Draft
Phoenix takes the Croatian big man
By
Matt Moore
•
1 min read
The Phoenix Suns selected 7-foot Croatian Dragan Bender with the fourth overall pick in Thursday night's NBA Draft.
With Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, Devin Booker, Bender and Alex Len, and have room to make trades over the summer. Bender gives them a player with a 9-foot-3 standing reach and a great set of base skills as a passer and shooter (36 percent from deep). The questions about Bender concern explosiveness and bulk. He has a thin frame and will get bullied around.
Bender may take time to develop but pairing him up with is a terrific combo punch. Bender has drawn comparisons to both Andrei Kirilenko and Kristaps Porzingis, but Bender is not as athletic as either and both are obviously based off the Euro comparison.
The question now for Phoenix is whether they deal Eric Bledsoe, Tyson Chandler, Brandon Knight or all of the above to enter into a true rebuild with the two youngsters (Bender is 18 and won't turn 19 until next November.) They have talent, but have to manage a complicated roster situation.
Bender only averaged five points for Maccabi Tel Aviv last season, but that was in limited minutes. He's been highly regarded for years coming up through Basketball Without Borders and FIBA competitions.
