[high floorParticipant]

He has the physical tools to play in the frontcourt….. 7′ feet tall w/ 7’2 wingspan.

He’s a decent athlete, with nice fluidity & a pretty good looking shot.

Good coordination, with some passing skills.

But man oh man…… what a terrible summer league showing for the former #4 overall pick in 2016. I follow BBallBreakdown on twitter, and one of their senior writers Rafael Uehara tweeted his stats to the masses earlier.

2018 Summer League Totals:

• 33pts on 35 field goal attempts
• Zero FT attempts in 110 minutes
• 23.9% TO Rate
• Two Steals
• Two Blocks

I was really hoping to see more of a well-rounded, efficient performance. He’s still really young, and mayber his struggles are nothing. But if I’m Suns management I can’t be feeling too great about his ability to contribute positively to the team this year. A potentially difficult pill to swallow for a 3rd year player

[DondiJohnParticipant]

A guard stuck in a big man’s body. He’s softer than cotton candy 

[cominup7Participant]

 Yi Jianlian, except Yi was about 10x better

[mowestenParticipant]

 Can’t teach toughness and competitiveness — two things that are completely absent in Benders game. He shot 0.6 free throws per game in 25 minutes of play this year. I’m not sure you can fix that. They do have a high pick invested in him, so he might hang on the roster another year, but at this rate he won’t make it in the league more than another year or two unless he grows a spine.

 

 

 

[The GoatParticipant]

 Not looking good. He’s still only 20, that’s crazy. That’s about all he has going for her myself though. If he wasn’t 7′ he wouldn’t be in the league at this point. Needs to have dramatic improvement in the next few months or he will probably be better off as the Suns’ gorilla. 

[WalkaFlockaParticipant]

 What do people think of Marquese Chriss now? Didn’t play in the SL. Some games he looks like a stud. But, most of the time he’s doing something stupid.

I’d much, much rather have him than Dragan, but I’m not sure that means much as a think Bender is a lost cause at this point. 

 

[HobbyOGParticipant]

Bender reminds me of  NIkoloz Tskitishvili from the 2002 Draft…he’ll be out the league in a year or two. Looks terrible this summer league.

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

They took a guy who couldn’t get minutes with his team in Israel, and haven’t even let him get minutes and develop in the G-League. Either keep him overseas, or get him working with your coaches in the G-League. Neither happened. In no way does it look like the Suns have had a plan with Bender. He was a project, and needed a team with a plan for how to get him up to an NBA standard.

[kobyzParticipant]

 Who drafted him should get fired, it was horrible pick and not even in insight, he was so unproductive in Europe and so soft everyone could have see this…

[HobbyOGParticipant]

 And he went top 4 hahahaha…then turned around a couple picks later and take another Power Forward. Suns organzation is terrible. Reminds me when Minnesota drafted two PGs in the same draft and passed on the best one..

[KIP BallerParticipant]

 When you look back, that draft is pretty weak and no one drafted behind him has solidified themselves as starters on a good team with high upside. He was a swing for the fences who is still very young (wont be 21 until September). They drafted him as a project and will give him the next 2 years to see the project through. I expect him to improve dramatically as he build strength (and hopefully confidence). He has a role in the league as high percent 3pt shooter (shot 36.6% last year) and verstitile defender at 7′. If in two years from now when he is 22, we should have a better idea of what his potential is. 

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

The development of a young and raw player is not just random. It matters how a team brings him along and teaches him. What is the point of putting a G-League team within driving distance of the Suns, and not using it to get a guy like Bender minutes and in-season coaching?

[BallerScriptParticipant]

 I didn’t have high expectations for him in the first place but they were atleast higher than what he is producing at the moment.

[ChoppyParticipant]

 Is it a confidence thing? Would he be more productive in another jersey? I honestly don’t know. He’s frustrating me as I thought he’d at least be at peak Ryan Anderson production. Perhaps he will as he matures, but it isn’t looking promising. What is the Suns track record of developing players? 

[kobyzParticipant]

 Yes he is playing very scared!

[HitsterParticipant]

 He had a frankly shocking Summer League after playing solid minutes and a full season in the 2017-18 NBA season. 

This season will be crucial to him as he’ll be expected to step up and put up some decent numbers as well as developing. 

He was always going to be a long term prospect and is still only 20 but the jury cannot be out forever.

 

 

[ChoppyParticipant]

 To be fair, Summer League isn’t necessarily the best showcase for his ability. Having said that, he really stunk the joint up. 

[LeroyJenkinsParticipant]

 I knew this bums name was to cool to be true ಠ_ಠ.

 

 

[Cutler06Participant]

 Darko 2.0

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