Dragan Bender

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NBA Draft 2016: Dragan Bender talks about playing in the NBA

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Draft Prospect: Dragan Bender

From:
	        Croatia
	        Height/weight:
	        7-foot, 220 pounds

2015-16 stats (with Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv in Euroleague):

Points:
	            1.5
	            Rebounds:
	            1.2
	            Minutes
	            8.6

Among the players projected to be selected in the early portion of the first round, Bender is the most unfamiliar to U.S. basketball fans, as the only elite prospect who did not play in the NCAA last season. The Croatian big man, who won’t turn 19 until several weeks into the NBA’s 2016-17 regular season on Nov. 17, is described by many as symbolizing the league’s future, a skilled 7-footer who can pass and shoot. Although it’s easy to liken him to another international player – New York phenom Kristaps Porzingis – draft analysts caution against doing that, saying it’s not accurate. “Bender is not Kristaps Porzingis no matter how many people want to make that comparison,” NBA.com’s Scott Howard-Cooper wrote. “Bender is a better distributor, Porzingis has better range.”

When NBA teams pick in the first round, particularly in the lottery portion, they’re hoping to find a franchise-changing talent. There seems to be a consensus among draft experts that Bender could be that kind of player. “At 19 years old (Bender) is a long-term project, but also a potential future star,” FoxSports.com wrote. Noted SB Nation, “Bender is not quite as long (as Kristaps Porzingis), but brings similar tools that give him high upside.”

As is the case with many players who are still in their teens, Bender probably needs to add some weight and muscle to hold up against the more physically-mature bigs of the NBA. “Stronger players can bully him on the post on both ends of the floor,” NBADraft.net assessed. “Has to bulk up to play at the next level, and appears to have a naturally skinny body type… Not strong enough to post up at a consistent level just yet.”

Where various prominent NBA websites predict he will be picked, along with excerpted comments from the respective mock drafts::

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Draft Profile: Dragan Bender

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