Former Phoenix Suns lottery pick Dragan Bender has agreed to play for CSKA Moscow, Yahoo Sports reported Wednesday.
Yahoo said that Bender’s agreement allows him to look for NBA deals “for a little while longer,” which matched a story from Eurohoops.net, which said the 7-foot-1 forward will sign a multiyear deal with the Russian club unless he receives “an interesting” offer from an NBA team.
The 21-year-old Croatian averaged 5.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 18.0 minutes in 46 games (27 starts) for the Suns in 2018-19.
Bender, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, has played in 171 games (64 starts) for Phoenix and has career averages of 5.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists.
Last October, Phoenix declined Bender’s fourth-year option for $5.8 million.
