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Dragan Bender regressing in third NBA season

It’s difficult to imagine a regression from last season’s 38% shooting and 9.3% rebound rate, but 7’1” former international phenom Dragan Bender has so far managed to do it.

In 2016, the Suns selected the 18 year old Dragan Bender with the #4 overall pick. It wasn’t an overdraft or a “reach”. Bender and his tantalizing skillset had been ranked inside the Top-5 of the 2016 Draft for than a year, sometimes as high as #1 overall.

But his NBA career has been less than tantalizing.

Last year, Bender disappointed many (most) (okay, all) with just 6.