The Suns announced that 2016 draftees Dragan Bender (No. 4 overall), Marquese Chriss (No. 8 overall) and Tyler Ulis (No. 34 overall) have officially inked their rookie-scale deals with the team.
Bender spent the 2015/16 season with Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Premier League. He averaged 5.5 points on 47.9% shooting, while connecting on 41.1% of his attempts from three-point range. Bender was the youngest player in the 2016 NBA Draft and he also became the first Croatian ever to be a top-four selection in the NBA Draft, according to the official release.
Chriss, a 6’10” power forward, averaged 13.7 points on 53.0% shooting from the field and 35.0% from beyond the arc. He also added 5.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks over his 34 games at Washington. Chriss notched 55 blocks overall to lead all Pac-12 freshmen.
Ulis, a 5’10” point guard from Kentucky, was named the SEC Player of the Year by the coaches and media after averaging 17.3 points, 7.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 35 games this past season.
Very sick draft for the Suns.