Golden State Warriors forward Dragan Bender gave his career a much needed jolt in the Bay Area, and now he has the attention of other NBA teams.
According to Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports, Bender is garnering interest from teams as an “early free agent addition” for the 2020-21 season. Smith reported the Warriors are also interested in keeping Bender, who just finished his fourth season.
Bender, 22, played 16 games in the 2019-20 campaign, and nine of them were with the Warriors; the other seven were with the Milwaukee Bucks.
He signed a 10-day contract with the Warriors in February, per Drew Shiller of NBC Sports Bay Area. During March, shortly before the league shutdown, he signed a second 10-day contract, per Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Dragan had one of the best stints of his young career with the Warriors. During his brief tenure with the team, he scored 9.0 points per game on 43.7% shooting, along with grabbing 5.9 rebounds a game.
As the No. 4 pick in the 2016 NBA draft, Bender hasn’t played up to his draft slot. He started his career with the Phoenix Suns, where he only scored 5.3 points per game and grabbed 3.8 rebounds per game in three seasons.
Before Bender came to the Bay, he had signs of being a bust. But with his career being boosted with the Warriors, perhaps he can either stay with them or find another franchise where he could make an impact.
