Fansided

2016 NBA Draft: Five big questions

By Staff

Mar 12, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; LSU LSU Tigers forward Ben Simmons (25) walks to the court prior to the game against the Texas A&M Aggies during the SEC conference tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 12, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; LSU LSU Tigers forward Ben Simmons (25) walks to the court prior to the game against the Texas A&M Aggies during the SEC conference tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 6
Next
Dragan Bender, NBA Draft
Dragan Bender, a professional Croatian basketball player currently playing for Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Israeli Basketball Super League attends a training session at the Menora Mivtachim Arena in Tel Aviv on March 16, 2016.Bender’s name is not yet well known beyond hardcore basketball fans, but that may soon change. Bender is expected to be highly sought after by US professional basketball teams in the coming months./ AFP / JACK GUEZ (Photo credit should read JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images) /

2. Where does Dragan Bender project on the spectrum of Andrea Bargnani to Kristaps Porzingis?

Ian Levy: Bender is getting a lot of Porzingis comparisons, but that seems like recency bias. Bender doesn’t have quite the international track record that Porzingis had before being drafted but being younger is a plus. Let’s narrow the spectrum a little and say his ceiling is somewhere between Andrei Kirilenko and Detlef Schrempf.

Josh Hill: I’d say he falls maybe closer to a Draymond Green than a Kristaps Porzingis. Dragan is athletically and versatile on both ends of the floor just like Draymond is, with the only difference being height and size. Dragan is taller and skinnier, but he seems to have a ceiling more comparable to Draymond than to Porzingis.

Chris Stone: Let’s call him a solid Toni Kukoc, one of his Croatian idols and a player he has modeled his game after. The thing that stands out about Bender relative to Bargnani and Porzingis is that he’s younger than both of them were when they were drafted. He won’t have the same immediate impact that Kristaps had this season, but he should be much better than Bargnani because of his defensive versatility.

Tom West: It’s clear why Bender draws so many comparisons to Bargnani and Porzingis as the tall, white European who can shoot, but as Stone said, Tony Kukoc — due to his fluidity and passing flare — is a little more apt. Bender’s quickness to switch to the perimeter on defense will help him immensely in today’s NBA as a stretch four, while his shooting, ball handling and passing give him the upside to become a dynamic frontcourt playmaker in an uptempo offense.

Next: Kris Dunn, Buddy Hield, or Jamal Murray?

Home/NBA