It’s May, yo! The birds are chirpin,’ the days are getting longer, and the playoffs are finally starting to get interesting. But not for the Timberwolves.
Sadly, their time has not yet come, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to look forward to for Timberwolves related news. In three short days, the Wolves will sit on the Lottery Dais for the 12th straight year and cross their fingers that they jump into one of the top two spots.
Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram are obviously the prize crop of this draft, and each would be great on this team in their own way, but that’s a dream and a conversation for another time. After those two locks, there is no real consensus, so there are a lot of options out there for Minnesota. Let’s look some of the rooks who could be the next piece of this promising puzzle, starting with Croatian power forward Dragan Bender.
First, drool over this clip of Bender hanging 43 on Bologna last year:
So who is he?
DRAGAN BENDER (PF) : 18 years old, 7’1, 225 lbs
Projected range: 3-5
Before we get into his specific fit with this Timberwolves team, let me start by saying I believe the inevitable Kristaps Porzingis comps that will be flying fast and heavy come draft time will be tough for him. As scrawny and gangly as K-Pop was coming into his rookie year, he had nearly 20 pounds on Bender (225), plus some extra bounce in his legs. Bender has a lot of the aspects that make Porzingis so exciting, but he appears to be a more wing-oriented player than a big man in some ways.
He’s no Darko, though. If he’s on the board when it comes time for Thibodeau/Layman to make their pick, he will be a hard name to ignore. Let’s look at how he’d fit with our young core.
The Good:
Much of Bender’s intrigue comes from the fluid ball-handling, passing, and shooting packed into his 7’1 frame. It’s fair to say that his numbers over in Israel don’t exactly scream future All-Star (2.1 points, 1.4 boards, 0.6 assists per game) but again, he’s a scrawny 18-year old playing ten minutes a game in the pros.
If Thibodeau trusts him enough, he could potentially spend spot time operating as a point forward once he gets a little NBA run in his legs, taking some of the shot-creating burden from Wiggins when Rubio sits. His shooting would open up the floor for Rubio, LaVine, and Wiggins’ drives, and it’s not hard to see clips like this one and envision a futuristic defensive menace of a team from positions 1-5.
The Bad:
For one thing, he’s a project. It’ll take some time for Bender to adjust to the speed of the NBA, along with the fatigue of an NBA season. He’ll struggle guarding bigger forwards, though he should be able to handle some small-ball fours. He also has a relatively short wingspan for his position (7’2 wingspan), which mean’s he’ll have to rely more on timing.
The other roadblock here could be the new team president/coach. It seems that the rebuilding period is pretty close to over in his mind. Management and fans alike have started talking about the playoffs in a serious way again. Thibodeau, a coach known in the past for not trusting rookies, might very well be looking for someone he thinks could come in and contribute on day one.
Final Thoughts:
Bender seems tailor-fitted to this basketball era. A seven footer who can pass, shoot, and take it to the hole from the perimeter while being disruptive on the other end, he has a high floor, although it will probably take a lot of time in the D-League to get him there. He also allows the Wolves to take another season to evaluate Dieng and his role on this team.
Personally, I want the Wolves to add a player that is ready to be competitive right away, but if Bender somehow falls to five, he might be too promising to pass up.
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