7 recent NBA lottery picks who are already out of the league

4. Dragan Bender, Phoenix Suns (No. 4, 2016 NBA Draft)

The Suns seem to be coming up quite often on this list (and they aren't done yet!). Phoenix took Bender fourth overall in 2016 after he found much success in Croatia and Israel. He stood 7-foot, 225 pounds with an outside shooting game, which made him an ideal prospect for the modern NBA.

Phoenix gave Bender some pretty decent minutes over three seasons in hopes that he would be able to figure things out. He certainly flashed legitimate talent, but struggled to put it all together on a consistent basis.

During his rookie year, he shot just 35.4% from the field but eventually improved that to a respectable 44.7% in 2018-2019. Unfortunately, that was the season that he shot a career-worst 21.8% from beyond the arc, and also maintained his 2.0 fouls per game despite player 7.2 fewer minutes than the season before.

This inconsistency led to the Suns declining Bender's fourth-year rookie option, and he signed with the Milwaukee Bucks during the 2019 offseason. After appearing in just seven games for Milwaukee, he was waived in February of 2020 and then signed a 10-day contract with the Golden State Warriors, and he actually had one of, if not the best stretch of his career, averaging 9.0 points and 5.9 rebounds in 21.7 minutes over nine contests.

That would be the final NBA action of Bender's career, as following the COVID-19-shortened season, he returned to Israel, and is currently playing in Spain.