Dragan Bender takes a break from the EuroLeague to play one season in Spain / News - Basketnews.com

Dragan Bender, former No. 4 NBA Draft pick and Maccabi Tel Aviv big man, will be playing for Monbus Obradoiro of the ACB in the upcoming season.

Credit: BasketNews.lt/Dainius Lukšta Credit BasketNews.lt/Dainius Lukšta

After an uneventful stint with Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv,Dragan Bender is leaving the EuroLeague market to play one season in Spain.

Dragan Bender

Position:PF, CAge:24Height:215 cmWeight:102 kgBirth place:CroatiaProfileNewsStatistics

The Croatian center's new destination isMonbus Obradoiro, who reached an agreement with the 24-year-old forward-center for the upcoming season.

Bender comes off two seasons with Maccabi, of which he got to play only the first one. Throughout the 2021-22 campaign, the 2.12 m. player tallied two official matches, both with his national team during the FIBA ​​Windows, as he was recovering from the serious knee injury he had suffered in the 2020-21 Israeli League semifinals.

After passing through Nikola Academy, KK Split and KK Ribola Kastela, at the age of 16 Bender would sign a 7-year contract with Maccabi. However, in 2016, he moved to the United States after being chosen by the Phoenix Suns with the 4th pick in the NBA Draft.

After 4 seasons and 187 games played with the Suns, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Golden State Warriors, he returned to Israel.

He has averaged 5.9 points and 3.4 rebounds on 58.3% two-point shooting and 74.5% free throw shooting over 41 EuroLeague games. His NBA career numbers have amounted to averages of5.4 points and 3.9 rebounds on 39.9% from the field.

"Dragan is a power forward who can form a pair with any of the inside players we already have, thanks to his size, versatility and outside shooting. It's been almost a year since he last played, but we are confident that his talent, work ethic and enthusiasm will help him return to the highest level," affirms Obradoiro's GM, Jose Luis Mateo.

As a result of his long-term injury, Bender wasn't included in Croatia's preliminary roster ahead of the 2025 EuroBasket qualifiers and the 2022 tournament.

Coach Damir Mulaomerovic gave an explanation for it.

"Dragan is a great guy who will definitely join us in the future. He was coming off a long injury and I'm sure that the period he trained with us was very good for him."

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