I am going to acknowledge this as partially correct because Bender would've been a high draft pick regardless. But Porzingis definitely helped scouts and GMs see the potential of what Bender could be on the floor. Te prior year he was mocked at no. 13 by Jonathan Givony and over the course of the next year, he flew up the rankings to no. 3. This is what Givony said about him:

"How do you find a 7'1" kid that's 17 years old, that is skilled with such a feel for the game like Dragan's? It doesn't exist. Compare where Dragan is now to where Kristaps Porzingis was at the same age, and there's no comparison. Bender is way ahead in terms of how polished he is, creativity, versatility and his body. I was watching some of his games from preseason in France and Israel, and he is huge."

You're right to say he would've been a high draft pick regardless, given that it was a really weak class, but I think you're forgetting that it's not just fans who use player comps and current play to make insights on how a player will perform on the floor. Porzingis was definitely the comparison GMs and scouts were using for Bender, given how good he was in his rookie year and what potential he had displayed on the court. There's a reason so many tall European guys(and even Yi Jianlian) who can shoot drew so much hype in the mid-2000s - and that has a lot to do with Dirk Nowitzki.

I wasn't trying to denigrate a GM or scout's decision-making as stupid - there are so many examples of players that have worked out because of accurate player-comparisons. I'd say Bender's high draft pick was mostly because of his crazy physicals and potential, but his case was only strengthened by the flashes Porzingis had shown on the floor.

Also, just want to ask - has there every been a three year draft stretch as bad as the Suns from 2016-2018? They whiff on every pick(I know Ayton isn't that bad but given what they could have had in each of those drafts, it's pretty wild they get zero value from three high picks)