Dragan Bender on Waivers

[Getting Traded]

Time for the Jazz to pull another Jordan Clarkson.

https://behindthebuckpass.com/2020/...gan-bender-reportedly-goes-unclaimed-waivers/

Milwaukee plays a system similar to the one that the Jazz run. Bender was touted as the next Porzingis by many scouts before the draft, Utah is now known for helping players develop into their potential when other teams could not. He was drafted by the Phoenix Suns when Jeff Hornacek was the head coach. He plays for the Croation national team alongside of Bojan Bogdanovic. Utah has a place called Bender Mountain. The Utah connections are practically endless.

That article was difficult to read. How did the guy get a job being a sportswriter?

 

[Shad]

Bender blows. No. There's a reason he couldn't even make it on a Suns squad..... because he blows

 

[infection]

Time for the Jazz to pull another Jordan Clarkson.

https://behindthebuckpass.com/2020/...gan-bender-reportedly-goes-unclaimed-waivers/

Milwaukee plays a system similar to the one that the Jazz run. Bender was touted as the next Porzingis by many scouts before the draft, Utah is now known for helping players develop into their potential when other teams could not. He was drafted by the Phoenix Suns when Jeff Hornacek was the head coach. He plays for the Croation national team alongside of Bojan Bogdanovic. Utah has a place called Bender Mountain. The Utah connections are practically endless.

I once saw him hit a corner three against us on a fast break. Add that to the long list of Utah connections.

 

[Isaiah 1:13]

He definitely seems like a low risk, high reward kind of prospect. What else is there out there that fills that stretch four/five slot we've all earmarked as deficit #1? I just don't think anything else is going to fall into our laps. And I know for a fact that the Millers for all their virtues as far as loyalty and sometimes doe-eyed optimism in the case of Exum, are also penny pinchers. We're definitely not going over that tax threshold and I can't see them committing big money on a rental either.

 

[Lakers_Slapper]

The Bucks waived him to bring in a bona fide NBA player onto the team to help win a championship.

The same reason they got rid of him is the same reason they picked him up originally. They realized he's not a "bona fide NBA player" like they originally thought.

 

[Lakers_Slapper]

His ability to do that is one of the main reasons he was drafted as high as he was.

He was drafted high in a weak draft based on an ability that the media and NBA scouts assumed he had. The Suns took the bait and NBA competition exposed him of his shortcomings. He was then traded to another team that took the bait and then cut. So the Jazz should role the dice on a player the NBA knows nothing about? All we can do is look at the past. AND the past says, Bender is trash and doesn't belong in the NBA. Jazz should pick him up as if he's low hanging fruit though? History repeating.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

So Dragan cleared waivers... he might be trash... he showed some progress (from basically lifeless)… not saying he's the answer, but I wouldn't hesitate to sign him to a 2 year deal with next year as a team option and release NWG. Legit 7 foot with 7'2" wingspan and can shoot... maybe he tops out as a Meyers Leonard or Mike Muscala type... if the Warriors can make Chriss look like an NBA rotation player (I know for a bad team... but Phoenix was bad too), then maybe there is something here... not like Phoenix is this amazing org with a great history of developing guys.

 

[Thee Jazz Fan]

I once saw him hit a corner three against us on a fast break. Add that to the long list of Utah connections.

Oh yeah I remember, um that one three. Lol. I’d rather sign the retired Collins twins than that bust

 

[idiot]

So Dragan cleared waivers... he might be trash... he showed some progress (from basically lifeless)… not saying he's the answer, but I wouldn't hesitate to sign him to a 2 year deal with next year as a team option and release NWG. Legit 7 foot with 7'2" wingspan and can shoot... maybe he tops out as a Meyers Leonard or Mike Muscala type... if the Warriors can make Chriss look like an NBA rotation player (I know for a bad team... but Phoenix was bad too), then maybe there is something here... not like Phoenix is this amazing org with a great history of developing guys.

I've said before that I wouldn't mind a Bender signing, as long as we're realistic about what it might achieve. This wouldn't be a Bradley/Niang replacement. It's a play that there's untapped talent that can be brought out over the long term.

Compare some of Bender's stats to Bradley's (Per RealGM) (ordered by season chronologically):
NBA PER: Bender: 5.4, 7.1, 9.4, 10.2; Bradley: 9.5, 19.0, 20.4
Summer League PERs: 2.4, 12.4, 5.4; Bradley: 18.2, 25.0, 35.4
Preseason PERs: Bender: 1.9, 9.0, 1.0, 33.3; Bradley: 11.7, 26.3, 40.7

(I recognize that PER is a stat that might as well have been invented to make Tony Bradley look good, but I still don't think you can discount the magnitude of the differences here.)

I wouldn't even attempt to sign Bender until it's obvious that there's no Harkless/Udoh/someone else(?) stuff happening -- in other words likely early March.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Oh yeah I remember, um that one three. Lol. I’d rather sign the retired Collins twins than that bust

This mindset makes me laugh... I mean he’s a bust based on where he was picked but he was always a project. He’s showed some signs, but everyone like “he’s not an all star by time he’s 21 so GTFO” .

He was almost certainly going to be a guy I’d rather get on his second team because these types of projects take time and NBA has no patience for it... obviously you wished he’d shown more but he was in Phoenix for hells sake.

 

[infection]

This mindset makes me laugh... I mean he’s a bust based on where he was picked but he was always a project. He’s showed some signs, but everyone like “he’s not an all star by time he’s 21 so GTFO” .

He was almost certainly going to be a guy I’d rather get on his second team because these types of projects take time and NBA has no patience for it... obviously you wished he’d shown more but he was in Phoenix for hells sake.

Not that I'm a big Bender guy, but imagine the amount of slack we'd be giving this guy, not to mention the multimillion doll contract he'd receive this summer, had it been us who drafted him. We'd be looking at him through a totally different lens, and the hype of potential and patience would be real.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Not that I'm a big Bender guy, but imagine the amount of slack we'd be giving this guy, not to mention the multimillion doll contract he'd receive this summer, had it been us who drafted him. We'd be looking at him through a totally different lens, and the hype of potential and patience would be real.

If his g league numbers this year sucked I’d say don’t even consider it. He’s been good there... was always a project that was gonna take a few years (that’s why you don’t draft big projects that high).

Here is a narrative I can kinda see around what happened with him... he was young in Phoenix and got frustrated with that whole deal... and then maybe didn’t work as hard as he could... then he’s a free agent with no interest and realizes he’s a few months away from being a euro player and never making it. In a functional environment for the first time and he flashed... dude is 22... IDK. He’s like 50 days older than Tony Bradley and younger than everyone else on the roster. I don’t expect him to turn into Porzingis but see no reason he couldn’t be a better version of Meyers Leonard if he works and gets with the right staff. Hell NWG is old enough to be his dad...

I do agree you wait until you miss out on Udoh, Harkless etc.