Jerusalem Post reporter gives insight on Dragan Bender

The Suns made a big investment in Dragan Bender when they selected him fourth overall in this year’s draft, and one reporter who has seen Bender first-hand broke down the 18-year-old power forward on Wednesday.

Allon Sinai, a reporter for The Jerusalem Post who covered Bender when he played for Maccabi Tel Aviv, told Bertrand Berry on Off the Edge on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM that Bender shows a lot of upside.

“First and foremost, you’re getting a player with a lot of potential,” Sinai said. “He’s still pretty raw at the moment. There’s so much he can improve on and is going to improve on. He’s gifted physically, he’s tall, he’s long, he’s quick, he can run the court. He’s also got the right attitude to improve, he’s got the work ethic.”

Bender, a native of Croatia who played professionally in Israel, will now be tasked with a transition to Phoenix. Sinai pointed out that the last time Bender was on the move, he handled it well.

“He left his home in Croatia as a 16-year-old, came to Tel Aviv, which is a completely different country, different language. People speak English here, but still, he really had to settle in Israel, that really isn’t easy to do. It will really help him, I think – his experience in Israel – when he moves to Phoenix, it will really make it easy to settle there.”

“Obviously Israel isn’t Las Vegas, but there’s plenty of temptations here,” Sinai continued. “He was always serious about his job, was a pro from the start, even as a 16-year-old in the Israeli second division. I think that really helped him mature.”

From a basketball standpoint, Bender has work to do. At 7-foot-1 but only 225 pounds, some say he currently lacks the strength and weight to play in the NBA.

“First of all, he has to get stronger,” Sinai said. “Even in the Israeli league or the Euroleague, he would get bullied around by bigger, stronger players, especially if he’s defending a power forward.”

Still, Sinai noted that while Suns head coach Earl Watson will need to ease him into the NBA over time, Bender has the talent and physical gifts to eventually play at the highest level.

“I can’t remember which game it was, but it was early in the season in his first season with Maccabi Tel Aviv where he posterized a player with a dunk,” Sinai said. “You could really see how it’s going to look for him when everything comes together. You could see how athletic he was and what ability he has. It was really something that made everyone stand up and look.”

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