MINNEAPOLIS -- Hiding in relative obscurity is difficult for a former No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft. Yet, somehow, Anthony Bennett was largely an afterthought since being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves a year after being the draft's top selection.
Minnesota had Ricky Rubio and Nikola Pekovic as the holdover faces of the organization in the wake of trading star Kevin Love. The summer promotional tour made two rookies into promotional celebrities: Andrew Wiggins, this year's No. 1 pick who came over in the Love trade with Cleveland, and Zach LaVine.
"It's always good to be low-key," Bennett said.
As he spoke about being low-key, Bennett was teased by his teammates in the postgame locker room. Bennett is no mystery to the Timberwolves. He was an unknown to the Minnesota fans before Friday night.
Bennett made his Timberwolves debut in Friday's 116-110 win against the Philadelphia 76ers in Minnesota and showed he was more than a throw-in to the blockbuster trade which shipped Love to the Cavaliers for Wiggins and Bennett, while Alexey Shved and Luc Mbah a Moute and a first-round pick went to Philadelphia for Thaddeus Young.
Coming off the bench, Bennett played 24 minutes and finished with 13 points and eight rebounds. Demonstrating his midrange jump shot and inside game, Bennett was 6-of-13 shooting and had an assist and steal with just one turnover.
"Shot the ball pretty well," coach Flip Saunders said of Bennett. "Just his composure and his demeanor, how he went after rebounds and got his hands on a lot of balls. . . . Had a man-rebound there in the fourth, boxed five guys, grabbed it and came out and dunked it. He showed very good composure."
Saunders said before the game he was as anxious as anybody to see Bennett in a game. Saunders called Bennett the team's most consistent player in practice and the coach wanted to see the former top pick carry over his practice habits into a game.
After the game, Saunders said Bennett was the best player on the floor on Friday night.
"What impressed me probably the most is that with his limited time here in the past week, he understood everything we were trying to do offensively," Saunders said. "He understands pretty much most of our concepts."
Bennett missed practice time and Minnesota's first preseason game with a strained right hip flexor.
Friday was the home debut of all of the new players. Wiggins scored 11 points, LaVine had 15 points and Young had 12 points against his former team. But Bennett came off the bench to provide a big spark.
"Anthony came out there hooping, so it was good to see him back in his old ways," LaVine said. "A lot of activity, don't jump when he jumps, he's a big dude."
Bennett's arrival in Minnesota followed one disappointing season with the Cavaliers. Behind the scenes, he worked on his body and on his game, including working out with Timberwolves teammates Shabazz Muhammad and Ronny Turiaf with a former SEAL trainer to lose weight and gain muscle.
"I felt like my defense was pretty much good outside, but I could have done a lot better 1-on-1 coverage," Bennett said of Friday's game. "The first game back I'm feeling pretty good."
Bennett said he's trying to get back to the player he was at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, which helped him become the draft's first pick after just one season of college.
More nights like Friday would have him on his way. And to show Bennett's not completely out of the limelight, the Canadian even endorses a new nickname he's earned on Twitter: Big Daddy Canada.
"If it fits, man," Bennett said.
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