Warriors re-sign Dragan Bender

The Golden State Warriors are reportedly re-signing Dragan Bender to a second 10-day contract. The news was first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Bender’s first 10-day contract expired on Tuesday, after the team’s surprising victory over the Denver Nuggets (in which the former lottery pick performed very well). While the 22-year old 7-footer played well during his first 10-day stint, the initial report was that the Warriors wouldn’t be immediately signing him to another contract.

So much for that. Golden State is re-upping their Bender supply before their next game, which comes tonight against the Toronto Raptors.

Signing another 10-day contract right as the team prepares to welcome Steph Curry back into the fold is significant. Bender has played well for the Warriors, and many of his skills - strong screens, rolling to the hoop, pick-and-popping, and finding the open three-point shooter - could be highly valuable to a healthy team that has Curry and Klay Thompson on the court. Giving Bender and Curry a little run together, to see how they perform and if they have chemistry, is vital in determining if the young journeyman can and should be part of next year’s squad.

In six games with the Warriors, Bender is averaging 23.3 minutes, 7.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game. He’s struggled a little bit with his deep ball (29.2%), but that’s primarily due to a tiny sample size. He’s shooting 38.4% from deep in the G League this year.

Bender is one of five players to sign 10-day contract with the Warriors in the last month. The team previously had Jeremy Pargo and Zach Norvell Jr. on 10-days, though they have expired without second contracts. Mychal Mulder and Chasson Randle are both currently on 10-day contracts with the team.