According to reports, the Milwaukee Bucks are set to guarantee the contract of fourth-year big man Dragan Bender to ensure his stay for the rest of the season.
While the Milwaukee Bucks look to bounce back from a rare loss to the San Antonio Spurs Monday night, they did a bit of housekeeping that resolves one of the big questions relating to the latter end of their 15-man roster.
According to The Athletic’s Eric Nehm, fourth-year big man Dragan Bender’s contract for the rest of this season has been fully guaranteed as he wasn’t waived ahead of his guarantee Tuesday afternoon’s deadline.
5 p.m. has passed. The Milwaukee Bucks have not waived Dragan Bender, which means his contract for this season is now fully guaranteed.
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) January 7, 2020
Bender has been on a bit of a tear lately with the Herd, taking home G-League Player of the Week last week.
The Bucks originally signed Bender to a two-year deal in late July last summer, a partially guaranteed contract that was filled with multiple incentives and guarantee dates that all started with making the final roster going into the 2019-20 season.
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Of course, Bender passed the initial test of making the Bucks’ final roster and has now passed the biggest check point in the first year of his pact with the Bucks that will ensure he stays in Milwaukee for the rest of the year, as of this writing.
To this point in the season, Bender has only made three appearances with the Bucks this year where he’s scored 15 total points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field (2-for-4 from deep, 1-for-1 from the foul line), three assists, two rebounds as well as two blocks across 29 total minutes.
The bulk of the 22-year-old’s action in his first season with the Bucks has come on assignment with the Wisconsin Herd where he’s increasingly shined and made an incredible impact on the affiliate where they’re 8-1 with him in the mix this season.
Over his nine appearances with the Herd, Bender is averaging 21.1 points on .504/.415/.808 shooting splits, 9.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.8 blocks across 29 minutes per contest.
And Bender was recently named G League Player of the Week for his strong play in the team’s wins over the Windy City Bulls and Long Island Nets last weekend on his most recent assignment.
With the success he’s been able to enjoy within the organization and how quickly he’s been able to acclimate within the system that’s been incorporated for both the Bucks and the Herd, this latest development only reinforces the Bucks’ belief in Bender as an interesting piece within their foundation.
It remains to be seen whether he will have the chance to showcase his skill set with the parent club and the presence of the Lopez brothers filling out the Bucks’ center rotation stands as something of a logjam for the Croatian international. And that quite honestly won’t change anytime soon, barring some injury (knock on wood).
Even still, the Bucks view developing Bender as something of a long game and guaranteeing the rest of his $1.67 million for this season is just the latest evidence of that.