The Next Generation: Dragan Bender

Every season the draft brings a fresh infusion of talent to the NBA. In theory this is an even, steady process. In practice, hindsight and historical perspective show that there are borders and boundaries — talent doesn’t just arrive in the NBA, it arrives in generational waves. Sometimes we can’t see these aesthetic dividing lines for decades, sometimes you simply can’t miss them.

The present day NBA appears to be on the cusp of welcoming a remarkable new generation to its forefront — players who are not just incredible but incredibly unique. Players who will not just excel but transform the roles and responsibilities of basketball players as we understand them. Over the course of this week, The Step Back will be examining many of the players who could figure prominently in The Next Generation. Not every player we turn our attention to is destined to be a star, but all could play a role in defining the future of the NBA. Read the whole series here.

The Next Generation: Dragan Bender

The next time you’re at a bar with your friends, or even just a crowded room with people who might care, tell them this: Dragan Bender is the future of the NBA. It will work well as an attention-grabber for several reasons. First, the dude’s name is Dragan Bender, and when you say that loudly, people are going to listen to the rest of what you have to say. Second, you’ll be right– and they’ll want to know why.

Though the Suns have had one of the youngest teams in the league for several seasons in a row, their approach in the draft hasn’t always been geared toward international players. American college studs dot their roster, so it was logical to match them up with those types of players last June — maybe a Deyonta Davis or Henry Ellenson. But picking so high, Phoenix couldn’t afford to be conservative. Outside the top two, the top of the 2016 draft was loaded with players unfamiliar or at the guard spot which is already so bloated on the Suns’ roster.

As the top three started to fall into place (Simmons, Ingram, then Brown or Dunn depending on who controlled the third pick), Phoenix locked onto its man. Dragan Bender would become the No. 4 overall pick, despite excited fans’ best access to him being grainy YouTube footage or the depths of draft blogs. Then, questions arose. Loudest and most reasonable among them: What would this guy be as an NBA player?

Was he Andrei Kirilenko? Maybe — J.Z. Mazlish of Upside and Motor wrote two summers ago that Bender “is a superstar made for the modern game due to his incredible versatility with which he helps his team.” That sounds a lot like Kirilenko, who was always ahead of his time.

Though Bender’s own idol is Toni Kukoc, Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman predicted a best-case scenario of a modern two-headed monster of Kristaps Porzingis and Joakim Noah. He also mentioned a super-powered Jonas Jerebko as something of a middle ground.

The 38 games Bender was able to play before going down with a bone spur in his right ankle were not definitive, but there’s little reason to be discouraged. He’s doing exactly what he has done since he began his professional career as a 16-year-old. Bender has made 37.5 percent of his corner threes, shared the ball well, and graded as average-or-better defensively.

The future looks like this — our Founding Fathers were a bunch of guys shorter than 5-foot-7, and look where we are now. In the future, everyone will be 7-feet tall, while still athletic and agile. Passing and playing defense from a variety of situations as well as Bender can will be a requirement, not a luxury. The Warriors’ style will be the rule, not an exception to it (if this isn’t already true). Herein lies the spectacular value the Suns locked into when they braved the international market and selected Dragan Bender.

So if you start down this boulevard, arguing with your friends about draft prospects with 481-minute sample sizes, hopefully you have video capability on your mobile device because the internet is full of beautiful Bender highlights. Look how he does LaMarcus Aldridge:

Or here, how he smacks into poor Patrick Beverley to clear the way for a dump-off to T.J. Warren:

Bender is clearly one of the smartest young players in the entire league. He gained these skills by virtue of that prolonged professional career overseas before ever coming to the NBA, culminating with his time last season in one of Europe’s top programs, Maccabi Tel-Aviv. His experience shows whenever the game flows his way, and he never disrupts that flow to try and force an impact on the game. Bender is the rare rookie capable of being a successful role player at the same time that he’s developing into a star, even though this season has been full of them.

His play this season inspires optimism — the technique is sound, and the skills are plenty. The injury shouldn’t be a problem long-term, and he ought to be able to hit the ground running when he returns, whether at the end of this season or the beginning of next. He (along with Phoenix’s entire corral of talented young guys) is bringing the Suns into basketball’s new world order. Talk about modern:

I know that I’m not offering anything as classic or decisive as some sort of “How ’bout them apples?!” line. Hear me out, though: Bet on Dragan Bender, and you’ll end up looking like the smartest person in the room.

The Suns tried to beat the rest of the league to the punch by taking this same leap of faith, and Bender is poised to reward them. With all the talk about Unicorns this season, it’s no wonder he hasn’t gotten much hype. No specific skill of his is unique– a pinch of this, a dash of that — but the NBA star of tomorrow will look a lot like Dragan Bender. To do so many things at a high level is to be the most valuable  kind of basketball player.