Phoenix Suns: Setting Expectations For Dragan Bender

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Sep 26, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Dragan Bender (left), guard Tyler Ulis (center) and forward Marquese Chriss pose for a portrait during media day at Talking Stick Resort Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

The Potential

Until Bender starts knocking down threes, regularly swatting people and finishing ferocious put-backs over other seven-footers as a rookie, the comparisons to Kristaps Porzingis will feel a bit hasty. Until his well-rounded game takes flight on a championship-caliber team, so will the Toni Kukoc comparisons.

Watson, however, presented a different NBA comparison when asked about what Bender’s future in this league looks like: Lamar Odom.

"“In five years, for me Dragan is Lamar Odom,” he said. “Points, assists, blocks, steals, rebounds. Points in a way where Lamar could give you 16-8-8. So we have a dominant scorer in Devin Booker. He’s a great complement to Devin Booker, so we’re looking for Dragan to be that guy to get Devin Booker numbers and score points. That’s not going to happen every night. If it does we love it, but we understand the intangibles that he brings to the game.”"

As Watson notes, the Suns don’t need Bender to emerge as some kind of high volume scorer, since they may already have that in their 19-year-old phenom.

But if Bender can fine-tune his game and hone his well-rounded skill set into a jack-of-all-trades kind of career, his two-way versatility will be a huge asset and an even bigger driving force for Phoenix to return to contender status down the road with a Booker-Bender-Chriss-Warren-Len-Ulis core.

Just imagine it: a seven-footer who can help out with weak-side blocks on the interior, give the Suns flexibility to switch screens because he can stick with ball-handlers on the perimeter, make plays on the offensive end with his passing, knock down perimeter looks as a stretch big and present a threat as a rim-runner in pick-and-roll sets.

“Once he arrives, he will arrive, and it’s going to be very unique and powerful,” Watson said. “He’s a unique shot-blocker, he comes from nowhere. He’s active, once he gets on the wing and gets comfortable with strength and builds up an NBA body, the scoring and defending will come naturally.”

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