Dragan Bender

[AzStevenCal]

I'm not sure what the cut off date is for declining his 2019/20 option, if it hasn't happened I know it's soon.

I think I'm ready to accept them declining it. That 6 mil could come in handy next summer.

However it goes, I just hope it's the coaching staff that's driving that decision and not the front office. I know management has the final say but if the guys working with him don't think he's worth their time, Ryan needs to man up, admit the mistake and move on.

 

[Mainstreet]

I was trying to think who we could get for Bender...Maybe there was another bust in the top 10 of the 2016 draft who could use a change of scenery...and I found him! Houston has this kid Marquese Chriss. He's been awful, but someone thought he was worth a top 10 pick at some point. Lots of potential.

Maybe the Rockets would include another 2nd round pick.

 

[Hoop Head]

I believe they have until October 31st to accept that 4th year option. That gives them almost 2 weeks of regular season to make the call. I'm glad that teams get more of a look at young players now before exercising those options. The downside to declining the option is that sending him to the G League could be pointless. I hope they do send him down if he's not going to get playing time on the main roster. If his option is declined though there isn't much use in trying to develop him any more and that would be a mistake, I think.

 

[SirStefan32]

I believe they have until October 31st to accept that 4th year option. That gives them almost 2 weeks of regular season to make the call. I'm glad that teams get more of a look at young players now before exercising those options. The downside to declining the option is that sending him to the G League could be pointless. I hope they do send him down if he's not going to get playing time on the main roster. If his option is declined though there isn't much use in trying to develop him any more and that would be a mistake, I think.

BUT if they don't release him, they use a bit of cap room for next summer, which could be critical.

 

[shazaam6]

Pretty obvious he needs to develop a more agressive, confident attitude.
D league him all year if we have to, until he dominates, then bring him up. If he can't beat his man there he can't possibly beat anyone in the NBA.

 

[sr7706]

This poll is crazy, guy sucks...How hard is that to see...These suns boards are wacky...

 

[Cheesebeef]

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Glad to see Kokoskov saying this. At this point, babying him hasn’t worked at all but perhaps some tough love might.

damn! that is some straight truth right there. Makes me like Igor a little more than I already do.

 

[ColdPickleNachos]

This poll is crazy, guy sucks...How hard is that to see...These suns boards are wacky...

To be fair, people voted a long time ago. I think if you ran this poll again today, he'd likely have very few (if any) supporters.

 

[sr7706]

To be fair, people voted a long time ago. I think if you ran this poll again today, he'd likely have very few (if any) supporters.

Oh I know I voted he sucked last time when the poll came out. Nothing has changed in fact he might've gotten worse...

 

[elindholm]

I was trying to think who we could get for Bender...Maybe there was another bust in the top 10 of the 2016 draft who could use a change of scenery...and I found him! Houston has this kid Marquese Chriss. He's been awful, but someone thought he was worth a top 10 pick at some point. Lots of potential.

Chriss is probably available, but the Suns would have to give up D'Apostrophe Meltdown, their top PG prospect. Is it worth it?

 

[ColdPickleNachos]

Chriss is probably available, but the Suns would have to give up D'Apostrophe Meltdown, their top PG prospect. Is it worth it?

Nah. I'd trade him, but only for an equally promising point guard prospect. Think Ulis in Golden State might be available?

 

[BC867]

To be fair, people voted a long time ago. I think if you ran this poll again today, he'd likely have very few (if any) supporters.

You can change your vote.

 

[GatorAZ]

@slinslin

 

[sunsfan88]

Nah. I'd trade him, but only for an equally promising point guard prospect. Think Ulis in Golden State might be available?

Tomas Satornasky even though he's about 6 yrs older than Bender.

 

[sunsfan88]

Another subpar game from Bender tonight.

 

[sunsfan88]

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[Phrazbit]

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I suspect we'll be able to tell by his play time during the first weeks of real games if the Suns have any intention of keeping him. If he's racking up the DNPs early then he's as good as gone.

 

[Hoop Head]

I think if we pick up his option and he doesn't develop, we can still find a team to take him in a salary dump. That's one reason I'm against declining the option. Declining it means they should give up on him entirely because the Suns luck otherwise would indicate he would start turning it on and we would see him walk for nothing. If we gave Alex Len 5 years then we can give Bender 3. He has sucked but he's on a rookie contract someone will take a chance on even if he doesn't step up this year. We weren't the only team that had him as a top 10 draft prospect and with our coaching turnover, some other GM will think they have the right environment to turn him around for a year on his rookie salary and the chance to control him in free agency after.

 

[Phrazbit]

I think if we pick up his option and he doesn't develop, we can still find a team to take him in a salary dump. That's one reason I'm against declining the option. Declining it means they should give up on him entirely because the Suns luck otherwise would indicate he would start turning it on and we would see him walk for nothing. If we gave Alex Len 5 years then we can give Bender 3. He has sucked but he's on a rookie contract someone will take a chance on even if he doesn't step up this year. We weren't the only team that had him as a top 10 draft prospect and with our coaching turnover, some other GM will think they have the right environment to turn him around for a year on his rookie salary and the chance to control him in free agency after.

I derided Len, a lot, but Bender is worse than Len, a lot worse.

If we keep him I won't be upset, I will be hopeful that a year with different coaching and a team that actually wants to win will turn him around. But if we don't keep him... I will view it as sparing ourselves from what he likely is, a sunk cost.

 

[elindholm]

The thing to focus on isn't the indulgence of being patient with Bender, but the foolishness of throwing Chriss away first.

 

[Hoop Head]

The thing to focus on isn't the indulgence of being patient with Bender, but the foolishness of throwing Chriss away first.

I can see that but I think that was the Suns choosing Bender over Chriss. If we throw away Bender right now, it says that whole draft was a complete bust, which is likely anyway. That makes McD look really bad. We drafted Bender, fine, but paid a premium for Chriss and then decided after 2 years both are awful and we're cutting them loose. That is firable, IMO. Admitting that is enough to throw his job in jeopardy and perhaps that's the way things should go. Its a weird time for it but its inexcusable to bust on the draft like that and throw in the towel 2 years later, after repeating similar moves this year and hoping people buy it this time for some reason.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I think that we traded Chriss and kept Bender primarily because there was someone out there that had a little interest in Chriss. Why would anyone have interest in Bender? He's like Archie Goodwin, if we release him there might be a team or two willing to kick the tires but I can't see anyone actually pursuing him.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I vote we just stop talking about Bender until he does something positive. It’s just depressing.

 

[SirStefan32]

I can see that but I think that was the Suns choosing Bender over Chriss. If we throw away Bender right now, it says that whole draft was a complete bust, which is likely anyway. That makes McD look really bad. We drafted Bender, fine, but paid a premium for Chriss and then decided after 2 years both are awful and we're cutting them loose. That is firable, IMO. Admitting that is enough to throw his job in jeopardy and perhaps that's the way things should go. Its a weird time for it but its inexcusable to bust on the draft like that and throw in the towel 2 years later, after repeating similar moves this year and hoping people buy it this time for some reason.

See, I don't think McD or Sarver care about a bad draft as much as we think they do. We can argue over luck, other players being common sense picks where they were drafted, but getting Booker, even Warren, Jackson, and Ayton is more important than missing on Len, Bender, Chriss. Suns need a point guard, but they will start winning at some point, Booker is gonna look like a top-ten player in the league, Ayton is going to look very impressive too, Jackson is gonna keep improving, and nobody is going to give a crap about missing on two top-ten picks in one draft.

EDIT:
To add and clarify, I am NOT necessarily in favor of declining the option and giving up on Bender just yet.

 

[Chaplin]

Geez, they didn't choose Bender over Chriss. They got rid of Chriss because he was predicted to be a bad fit with Ayton. Theoretically, Bender should be a much better fit with Ayton than Chriss. I don't think any of the Suns front office are lamenting they got rid of Chriss and not Bender.