Paul Coro

azcentral sports

The facets of an overseas career move are overwhelming enough without the added pressure and burden of an NBA spotlight, the status of being a No. 4 draft choice and the learning curve of new basketball rules and style.

Suns 18-year-old rookie Dragan Bender is adapting well to a new culture and has an impressive grasp of English, thanks to world travels and an affection for subtitled American sitcoms such as “Friends” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."

The NBA’s youngest player is looking the part in basketball, too, because this situation is not that foreign. He grew up as the youngest player going against his brother, Ivan, a Maryland player, and his friends. Bender had been uprooted twice previously. He left his parents and a humble, rural Bosnian house with a homemade hoop at age 12 to move into a Croatian basketball academy with Ivan. He became a pro for an Israeli club at 15 when he shot up to 6 feet 10, playing the past two years with men in their 20s and 30s.

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“I got experience at a senior level early,” Bender said. “That helped me to trust myself over here. I had to grow up faster and learn some things faster than usual. But in the long run, I see how that is helping me a lot.”

Bender played sparingly on Maccabi Tel Aviv last season (13.4 minutes per game in Israeli league games and 8.6 minutes per game in Euroleague games) so getting 24 and 26 minutes in the Suns' preseason contests was a joy.

The basketball transition is a long-term construction project, especially for a 7-1 player working at small forward, power forward and center. But he already went from an 0-for-4 debut with four fouls to a 3-for-7 shooting game Wednesday with no fouls.

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“When I was 18, I was moving from Kansas to Los Angeles, trying to find my way through UCLA,” Suns coach Earl Watson said. “I can’t imagine being 18, being in the NBA, being in another country and you’re defending Joe Johnson, sometimes Kawhi (Leonard)."

“For Dragan, the experience and the opportunity is the most amazing thing he can get at this age. We understand there are going to be some challenges. We also believe past those challenges on the horizon. It’s his journey with his purpose of his pace. You can’t compare him at the same time to any other rookies. Once he arrives, he will arrive and it’s going to be very unique and powerful.”

Bender occasionally arrives at the rim with swiftness, whether it be a baseline "and-one" dunk in practice or Wednesday night’s follow score. He is smooth with the ball - dribbling and passing - and agile enough to guard various positions.

He arrived at Nikola Vujcic’s academy in Croatia as a 6-2 guard and found VHS tapes of Toni Kukoc, who became an idol despite coming to the NBA in Chicago before Bender was born.

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Watson’s vision is for Bender to play with the versatility Kukoc displayed, similar to Lamar Odom with an ability to affect a game with scoring, playmaking, rebounding and blocked shots.

“Once he finds his rhythm and becomes legal, I think he’ll be a pretty good player,” Watson said of Bender, who will turn 19 on Nov. 17.

Bender came to Phoenix with his personal coach, Croatian coach Mladen Sestan, who has worked with Bender almost daily for the past six years. That work continues outside Suns workouts but the Suns do not want to rush Bender’s progress, especially because many steps will come simply with getting stronger.

He already has the aggressiveness, which can be surprising for how sleekly he dribbles upcourt or flings a one-handed pass.

“That’s just the will,” Bender said. “If you’re willing to play aggressive on the court on both ends of the floor, you’re going to play. If you’re not willing to play that way, you’re not going to play. My personality is to give 100 percent on the court.”

Many players revel in the opportunity to spend more time in basketball once they get to the NBA but Bender is accustomed to that dedication. At his Croatian academy, he practiced in the morning for two hours before going to school and then had another two-hour practice nightly. He already lived a pro basketball life for four seasons at each pro level in Israel.

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Bender was more curious than doubtful about how he would fit into the NBA scene but the possibilities became clearer with the weeks of voluntary workouts that preceded Suns training camp.

“Everybody has a question before they step in something big,” Bender said. “When you come over here and spend some time with these guys and these coaches, you understand that you need to work a little bit harder and come every day to be better to compete with these guys.

“It’s a dream come true. It’s amazing to play and I enjoy it.”

Reach Paul Coro at paul.coro@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-2470. Follow him attwitter.com/paulcoro.

Friday’s game

Suns at Blazers

When: 7 p.m.

Where: Moda Center, Portland.

Radio: KTAR-FM (98.7).

Suns update:Tyson Chandler did not travel with the team Thursday to Portland after missing Wednesday’s game for personal reasons. Jared Dudley expects to play Friday night after missing Wednesday’s game with right knee tendinitis. P.J. Tucker ran Friday for the first time since his Sept. 15 back surgery.