Clipperholics
Fansided

3 Players the LA Clippers Should Give a Second Chance

By Seth Kimbrell

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 13: Ivica Zubac #40 of the LA Clippers and Dragan Bender #35 of the Phoenix Suns speak before the game on February 13, 2019 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 13: Ivica Zubac #40 of the LA Clippers and Dragan Bender #35 of the Phoenix Suns speak before the game on February 13, 2019 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 4
Next
LA Clippers
(Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Dragan Bender

Hey! It’s the other worst basketball situation right now!

I’m going to give you two statlines: Player A and Player B. I want you to guess who each one is (one of them should probably be pretty easy, given the section of the article we’re in).

Player A: 5.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 0.5 blocks on 52% true shooting in 18 minutes per game.

Player B: 4.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 0.9 blocks on 57.1% true shooting in 16 minutes per game.

Who’s who?

I’ll wait.

Player A? Dragan Bender in this most recent season, his age 21 season.

Player B? DeAndre Jordan in his age 21 season.

Now let me hedge again. I am *not* saying that Dragan Bender is going to be DeAndre Jordan. What I am saying is that Doc Rivers and this team turned Jordan from a raw project big man into a very good player, and that Dragan has a worse-but-not-significantly-worse statline to DJ at the same age.

Bender was drafted by the Phoenix Suns, a team which has been struggling lately, to put it lightly. It was known that he would be a raw development project when he was drafted, but by the time his second season rolled around they were already giving him 25 minutes per game.

The main thing Dragan has going for him is his size. He’s 7’1″ with a 7’2″ wingspan, and as Enzo Amore and Big Cass would tell you, “you can’t teach that.”

He has an outside shot that is tantalizing, if not good yet. Two years ago, he shot 36.6% from 3 and 76.5% from the line. Those plummeted last year to 21.8% from 3 and 68.8% from the line.

To me, that shouts “confidence issue.” And that’s an issue that I trust this team to fix. If he could regain some confidence in his shot and be a threat from outside, that would open up a new wrinkle in our offense, and help drag some opposing bigs away from the paint.

Bender was just signed by the Milwaukee Bucks to a two year deal, but he was a free agent for a long period before that. When you put that fact next to the already crowded frontcourt for the Bucks, I think Bender could be had for a low price, if the Clippers wanted to target him.

Home/Clippers News