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By JOHN ALVARADO
Cronkite News
PHOENIX – At the age of 12, Dragan Bender, along with his brother Ivan, left Bosnia-Herzegovina to train part-time in Split, Croatia, at legendary Croatian basketball player Nikola Vujčić’s basketball academy.
A year later, Bender left his home country for good to join Vujčić’s academy full-time, in pursuit of a dream of making it to the NBA.
Thursday night, that dream came true when the Phoenix Suns selected him with the fourth pick in the NBA Draft.
“When I heard my name, it just showed that hard work pays off in the end,” Bender said. “That we made the right choice to leave my hometown when I was 12.”
Multiple reports suggested the Suns were considering both Bender and Washington Huskies freshman forward Marquese Chriss for the No. 4 draft slot. By the end of the night, the team wound up with both forwards, following a trade up to No. 8 to select Chriss.
“It was really close between those two guys with the fourth pick,” McDonough said.” We went back and forth on it. They’re both tremendous young players. It’s hard to find talented young, big guys.”
In a trade with the Sacramento Kings for the eighth pick, the Suns gave up Nos. 13 and 28 in this year’s draft, 2014 first-rounder Bogdan Bogdanović and a second round pick in 2020.
McDonough said that while both Bender and Chriss are listed as power forwards, each one brings a different skill set to the team.
“Dragan has the size, the length, the passing ability and the ability to move his feet around the perimeter, “ McDonough said. “That is rare and unique.”
The Suns general manager highlighted Chriss’ physical presence, pointing to the fact that the 6-foot-10, 233-pound forward primarily played football up until the eighth grade.
“Marquese Chriss, my goodness, just an explosive athlete,” McDonough said.
Suns head coach Earl Watson said both Bender and Chriss are great three-point shooters. He believes Bender could be a good perimeter player in the NBA.
“He can handle the ball really well,” coach said. “That’s always positive.”
Chriss said he is looking forward to the upcoming competition with his fellow rookie.
“We’re both willing to work so we are just going to compete,” Chriss said.
In only one season with the Huskies, the power forward averaged 13.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game.
The 18-year-old Bender played limited minutes in 26 games last season for Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. in the Ligat Winner Sal in Israel. He averaged 13.7 minutes per game and 5.4 points per game. Bender said that being an 18-year-old on a team filled with veterans may have limited his playing time, but he still found ways to work on his game.
“When I realized I could make it happen, I just started working harder though I didn’t play much in Maccabi,” Bender said. “ definitely put in the work in the mornings to make it happen.”
When a reporter referred to Bender as a mystery on a conference call with reporters Thursday, the young forward said he is excited to prove himself.
“I just want to play hard and show everybody that I can play all the guys on the court,” Bender said. “I just want to put my game on the court.”
Before Bender spoke to the media, he said he called his parents to share the news of his selection. He said his they got emotional when he told them.
“They first told me to stay humble and stand your ground,” Bender said. “‘This is just one night and is just the beginning. You need to prove yourself on the big stage.’”
