I really don’t think that the author has ever seen Bender play. As someone who watched him on a weekly basis, he is nowhere near the style of play, nor capabilities, of Toni Kukoc. In fact, he is much closer to a Bargnani than a Kukoc. He avoids contact constantly (soft to say the least), poor team defense orientation, hardly puts the ball on the floor, and — most of all — has zero (!) passing skills.

Dragan Bender is a mystery in NBA standards; I don’t think he’s a top 5 pick. He is extremely “raw”, and yes he got upside, but I think that people expect too much of him.