Cavs rumors: Team has shown interest in Dragan Bender

The Cleveland Cavaliers have reportedly shown interest in former Phoenix Suns big Dragan Bender, who had a disappointing first three seasons there but does fit the mold of an inexpensive end-of-bench free agent target.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are not going to be signing very notable free agents this summer, as we’ve often touched on here at KJG, and general manager Koby Altman (and presumably the front office as a whole) are fully aware of that.

The Cavs’ hands are pretty tied from a salary cap perspective, and even after Cleveland reportedly waived and presumably stretched J.R. Smith on Monday, the Cavaliers are still “about $22 million over the salary cap for 2019-20,” as was noted by Sam Amico of Amico Hoops.

As the roster stands after Smith’s waiving, Cleveland is set to have two open roster spots going into next season, and they will reportedly likely leave one of those roster spots open, per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor.

When it comes to the 14th spot, they are said to likely fill that with a minimum contract player (and previously, two players), per The Athletic‘s Joe Vardon in a tweet about an article he previously wrote (which is subscription required) and Fedor, due to their cap limitations and wanting to stay under the luxury tax threshold, which is set to be $132,627,000 for next season, per Spotrac.

A player that could possibly fit that mold for the Cavaliers as a rotational project is big Dragan Bender, according to international reporter Orazio Francesco Cauchi (h/t Amico); Bender played for the Phoenix Suns for three seasons and was drafted by them in 2016.

Additionally, Cauchi also mentioned the Toronto Raptors as a team that has “inquired,” (just like Cleveland) about Bender, along with international clubs CSKA Moscow and Fenerbache, who have shown interest to “some level.”

In three NBA seasons with Phoenix, the former number four overall pick didn’t exactly light it up (I guess pun intended), as he had 5.3 points per game on 49.4% effective field goal shooting and 4.0 rebounds in 20.3 minutes per game (per Basketball Reference).

To make matters worse, Bender, who is a finesse player despite being a listed 7-foot-1, shot only 32.1% from three-point range on 3.1 attempts per game for the Suns, and shot just 21.8% from deep in 2018-19, but had a tough time getting his rhythm, as he only appeared in 46 games (per Basketball Reference).

That likely played a significant role in Phoenix reportedly not picking up Bender’s fourth-year option on his contract, and he is currently an unrestricted free agent, and fits the minimum (and maybe not even guaranteed), mold, per Hoops Rumors’ Luke Adams.

On the bright side, he did shoot much better from three-point land when playing in all 82 games (and starting in 37 of them) in the 2017-18 season, as he shot 36.6% from there on 3.9 attempts per game, and last season, did flash some better rolling ability and did shoot 78.4% from 0-3 feet from the rim last year on a frequency of 37.6% (per Basketball Reference).

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He is just 21, anyhow, and with Cleveland potentially trading Tristan Thompson and/or John Henson, who are both expiring after 2019-20, maybe Bender could find some rotational minutes at the 4 or 5 for the Cavs as the year progresses, and with Kevin Love and Larry Nance Jr. both historically having injury trouble, in particular.

While Bender does not have the post scoring polish of rotational big Ante Zizic, he does have good passing instincts for a big, and could fit in well in that regard in Cleveland Cavaliers head coach John Beilein‘s ball and man-movement driven offense that often utilizes bigs inverting near the perimeter as secondary initiators.

If Bender were signed likely via minimum deal, he’d likely be duking it out with Zizic and/or potentially (if he still would have days left with the Cavs) two-way stretch big Dean Wade, whose inside-out skill set and above average athleticism would make him a better rotational option, I believe.

Nonetheless, as Cavs Nation’s Sam Penix highlighted, Cleveland trying out Bender on a team-friendly deal, whether he would eventually pan out or not, would be a sensible end-of-bench move and I’d understand Cavs rumors relating to him.

You can’t teach 7-foot-1 height and though Bender is underwhelming as a post defender and needs to continue to add strength, his positional awareness is decent, and he is at least a better option when it comes to switching for a few seconds in pick-and-roll coverage against ball-handlers than Zizic (though Zizic’s conditioning has reportedly improved immensely, which may help in that regard).

Overall, I’d be much more interested in the Cleveland Cavaliers taking a flier on Cheick Diallo if Cleveland were to sign a rotational 4/5, as KJG’s own Tyler Marling suggested, but Cavs rumors relating to Bender I would say are sensible.

Adding a developmental wing via minimum deal wouldn’t be the worst idea, either.