Dragan Bender

As the fourth overall pick, Bender became the Suns' highest-selected rookie since Armen Gilliam was taken second overall in 1987, and the highest-selected Croatian to be taken in an NBA draft.

Dragan Bender (born 17 November 1997) is a Croatian former professional basketball player.

He last played for the Monbus Obradoiro of the Spanish Liga ACB.

He stands 7 ft and played the power forward and center positions.

Bender was born on 17 November 1997, in Čapljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and he later moved to Split, Croatia.

At 12 years of age, he started playing at Nikola Vujčić's basketball academy as a point guard.

Vujčić was a former Maccabi Tel Aviv star and became Bender's guardian.

At the academy, Bender became a more versatile player and he "learned how to play all the positions on the court."

Bender played there along with his older brother, Ivan, with Bender also playing against guys that were Ivan's age when he first started playing.

Bender also played with the KK Split youth teams at this time, and he appeared for the Croatian under-16 national basketball team.

He idolized and modeled his game after Toni Kukoč, a former Croatian NBA player, while growing up and watched his old game tape.

He mostly watched EuroLeague games but would sometimes tune into the NBA as well.

One of his favorite EuroLeague players was Šarūnas Jasikevičius.

Bender made his professional debut at 15 years of age with KK Split.

He played only a total of six minutes and added two points and one rebound.

For the following season, Bender remained in Croatia and signed with KK Kaštela, who played in the country's second-best league.

With his help, the team was promoted to the A-1 Liga, the top league in Croatia.

Most notably, he made a game-winning shot with three seconds remaining against KK Gorica to help his team secure the promotion.

Later, in February 2014, Bender joined the KK Cedevita junior team for the Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament.

He put up 21 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists vs the junior team of the Serbian club KK Mega Basket.

In 2014, Bender signed a seven-year contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv, a team that played in the Israeli Basketball Premier League and the EuroLeague.

He was soon loaned to Ironi Ramat Gan of the Liga Leumit, the second-tier-level league in Israel, for the 2014–15 season.

He made his debut on 21 October 2014, posting 13 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 assists vs Ramat HaSharon.

He recorded another double-double on 12 December, with 23 points and 12 rebounds in a win over Maccabi Ra'anana.

Bender scored a season-high 25 points as his team defeated Barak Netanya by one point on 1 January 2015.

After 28 games, he finished the season averaging 9.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.1 blocks.

As the season came to a close, Bender returned to Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Bender debuted for Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Israeli Premier League on 11 October 2015, with 5 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 blocks in a win over Maccabi Kiryat Gat.

He scored double figures for the first time with the team in a rematch with Kiryat Gat, adding 15 points.

Bender scored a season-high 16 points on 31 December 2015, as his team defeated Hapoel Holon.

In 2015–16, he helped Maccabi Tel Aviv repeat as winners in the 2016 Israeli State Cup, and he was named a foreign All-Star for the 2016 Israeli All-Star game.

He was selected by the Phoenix Suns with the fourth overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft.

Bender represents the Croatian national team, with experience in the FIBA Europe junior tournaments.

Before playing in Israel, he competed with multiple teams in Croatia and in Nikola Vujčić's academy.

On 6 April 2016, Bender declared for the 2016 NBA draft.

His contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv was later bought out for $1.3 million.

On 23 June 2016, Bender was selected by the Phoenix Suns with the fourth overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft.

He was widely billed as the best international prospect available in the draft, highly valued for his ability to shoot the ball in various ways as a big man, as well as his overall untapped potential in other facets of the game.

On 7 July, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Suns and joined the team for the 2016 NBA Summer League.

Bender made his debut for the Suns in their season opener on 26 October 2016, scoring 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting in a 113–94 loss to the Sacramento Kings.