Phoenix Suns: 3 goals for Dragan Bender in 2018-19
The Phoenix Suns have a decision to make with Dragan Bender. What can the former fourth overall pick do in 2018-19 to prove himself?
On Dragan Bender Island, morale is at an all-time low for the collection of lonely survivors who still believe the third-year Croatian can be a productive player for the Phoenix Suns.
The group grows smaller by the day. Their huts have been dismantled by the hurricanes of every air-balled 3-pointer, their fires of hope doused by the monsoons of every soft foray to the rim, their limited supply of freshwater poisoned by the bacteria of careless turnovers.
There are cannibals on this island from a tribe called Realism, and they threaten the very existence of the outcasts still clinging to hope that the former No. 4 overall pick can be part of The Timeline. Off in the distance, scientists in the front office quietly busy themselves with the construction of a nuclear bomb meant to destroy the island altogether.
On Oct. 31 — the deadline for Bender’s 2019-20 team option to be picked up by the Suns — that bomb could eradicate the conflict on the island altogether if it indeed drops.
Three games into the preseason, Bender is running out of time to provide the lost souls on his island with shelter and provisions to survive. He’s tallied a grand total of 12 points and seven rebounds in those three contests … with 10 of those points and five of those rebounds coming in one game alone.
Bender has twice as many turnovers (six) and three times as many fouls (nine) as he does assists (three). He’s shot 2-for-10 from the field, 1-for-7 from deep and is a combined -35 in 41 minutes. Even the owners of the land, head coach Igor Kokoskov and general manager Ryan McDonough, are running out of reasons to hold onto it.
"“Players play the game, as we know,” Kokoskov said. “He’s got to step on the stage and whatever it requires — be more upset, be more focused. He has to play the game. We can’t play the game for him.” “He’s starting year 3 still 20 years old, but he’s not a kid anymore,” McDonough said at Media Day. “That’s what we’re looking for from him, to be confident, be aggressive, be physical.”"
Still, with only 125 career games to his name and his 21st birthday not arriving until November, it isn’t time to abandon the island just yet. The situation is dire, but the results of NBA Summer League and preseason can only account for so much.
With his young NBA career seemingly on the line and the Phoenix Suns looking to move forward with their rebuild, here are three goals for Dragan Bender in 2018-19.