National Basketball Association

Anthony Bennett Could Finally Have A Team That Suits Him

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Anthony Bennett and the Brooklyn Nets have nothing to lose this season. Could this be the year that Bennett finally shows the NBA why he was drafted No. 1 in 2013?

Does anyone understand the pressure of being a No. 1 draft pick unless you have been there? I doubt it sincerely. When Anthony Bennett was selected with the No. 1 overall draft pick in the 2013 draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, the world would have been expected of him.

In the past 30 years the Cavaliers have had five No. 1 draft picks. In 1986 they selected Brad Daugherty, who only played eight seasons but averaged 19.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. He was arguably the best player of that draft despite the shortness of his career.

His three championship rings and three Finals MVPs tell us how good he is in the big moments.

The fourth ever No. 1 draft pick was Kyrie Irving who played well from the outset and justified his selection.

Cleveland

When the Cleveland Cavaliers selected Bennett as their fifth-ever No. 1 draft pick (Cleveland also selected Austin Carr first overall in 1971), expectations were enormous. Bennett was filling the position left by James, who had left in 2010 to play for the Miami Heat.

He was a similar-sized forward. He played well in college. His ability to slash to the basket and score was good. The problem was that Bennett was not James and his NBA form was nothing like that of college.

Feb 21, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Anthony Bennett (15) watches a free throw next to Toronto Raptors forward John Salmons (25) at Air Canada Centre. The Raptors beat the Cavaliers 98-91. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Part of the reason that Bennett failed in Cleveland was that he was to be the next big thing. Cleveland was looking to Bennett and Irving to lead the Cavaliers into the future.

The problem was that Bennett did not have the confidence in himself that he could do it. His game showed that. Averaged of 4.2 points and 3.0 rebounds per game in a rookie season for a No. 1 draft pick was not good enough.

This output was worse than Kwame Brown‘s rookie year.

One mitigating factor was that Bennett did miss the entire preseason due to surgery, but a player should not go from dominating in college to barely giving a whimper in the pros.

Minnesota

At the start of his second year, Anthony Bennett was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves with the Cavaliers sixth-ever No. 1 draft pick, Andrew Wiggins, for Kevin Love.

The trade was more complex than that but the net result for Bennett was that he was on his second team in two years.

For the first half of the season, Minnesota chose Thaddeus Young to start at power forward which meant that there was less pressure on Bennett.

His output increased, marginally–5.2 points and 3.8 rebounds were a better return, but it appears that Bennett was not part of the rebuilding plans for Minnesota

He played 57 games for the year but was waived in September, after Minnesota brought back their prodigal power forward, Kevin Garnett. This would have done nothing to help the poor confidence levels of Bennett.

It did not look good for Bennett, he was in limbo, without a team just two years into his career. Then came the national call up.

Team Canada

The 2015 Pan American games were to be a slight career revival for Anthony Bennett. He was given a role to his liking and showed something for Canada that had not been seen in the NBA.

In five games, including against the U.S., he averaged 15.6 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. He had two double-doubles, the second one being 18 points and 14 rebounds against the U.S.

With what he showed playing for Canada, Dwane Casey, head coach of the Toronto Raptors, saw something he liked–a power forward scoring and rebounding skills.

With Toronto being a contender, the only real position that needed to be filled was power forward. It seemed like a match made in heaven.

It is also possible that Casey thought that playing in Canada may help Bennett regain his confidence in his game.

Toronto Raptors

Was the Toronto Raptors going to be the team that unlocked the potential of Anthony Bennett. Unfortunately no. Bennett had his worst NBA season, only lasting 19 games, averaging 1.5 points and 1.2 rebounds per game.

His confidence was shot and he was third or fourth on the depth chart behind some pretty average players, Luis Scola and Patrick Patterson to name two of them.

Bennett did play six games for the Toronto D-League team and averaged 9.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.

There was not a lot of hope for Bennett on the Raptors, they were a title contender and he no longer had the faith in himself to play at the level required for him to gain regular minutes.

The Raptors also had two guards with high shooting volumes in Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan who were always going to dominate in Toronto.

Brooklyn Nets

The question that needs to be raised now is what will be different for Anthony Bennett now that he has signed a two-year deal with the Brooklyn Nets. Why should we believe in him in his fourth season when he could not deliver in the first three.

The answer for me is simple, Brook Lopez. Lopez is a player who is dominant is Brooklyn–20.6 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game last season on the third-worst team in the league.

Sean Marks, Brooklyn Nets general manager, traded Thaddeus Young to try and get some leverage in the draft and starting a rebuild around Lopez.

The only other true center on the roster is Justin Hamilton, who has career numbers of 5.0 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.

Were I Kenny Atkinson, Brooklyn’s head coach, I would be talking to Bennett about utilizing his skills as primarily a backup center.

Feb 18, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Thaddeus Young (21) is defended by Cleveland Cavaliers forward Anthony Bennett (15) during the fourth quarter at the Wells Fargo Center. The Cavaliers defeated the Sixers 114-85. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Hear me out on this one. Brooklyn has a decent number of power forwards. Scola, second-year player Chris McCullogh, newly signed energy machine Trevor Booker and Bennett are all in the rotation.

Of these players, Bennett is the most solid, coming in at 245 pounds. This is compared to Scola’s 240 pounds, with Scola being an inch taller.

Put Bennett against starting centers and he will be eaten alive. He is not big enough. However, against back up centers, not known for their offense, he should be hard to stop.

The slashing and cutting to the basket will lead to some easy points for the Nets.

Secondly, Lopez is the center of the team’s offense. This only slightly changes with the addition of Jeremy Lin. Bennett should see some freedom from opposition defenders.

Lopez is a monster and when Bennett is on the court with Lopez he can use his slashing skills, Lopez should be able to find him with a pass for easy points.

Thirdly, with Lopez being the center of the offense, it should be easier to read the offensive rebounds. Lopez will be one side of the hoop and Bennett should position himself on the other. This will aid getting Bennett more confidence and hopefully lift him out of the career funk he is in.

I think this is Anthony Bennett’s last shot at the NBA. The Brooklyn organization needs to understand that trying what others have tried will lead to failure. Look at what the New York Knicks were able to accomplish when they figured out how to use Derrick Williams.

If Cleveland had not have surprised us all in 2013 by selecting Anthony Bennett with the No. 1 pick we would probably not be having this conversation. However, they did and Bennett now has to live up to the hype of being a No. 1 draft pick.