Will Anthony Bennett Be A Bust?

Nov 5, 2013

The first week of the NBA season has been pretty rough for the number 1 overall pick of the 2013 NBA draft. The power forward/small forward/ we really don’t know what position he plays out of UNLV Anthony Bennett has struggled early on in his NBA season. In fact has hasn’t scored a point from the field yet. The only buckets he has gotten have come from the free throw line, and that was only 2 points in the first game of the season. The Cavs have played 3 games after that and Bennett still hasn’t scored. His NBA debut went largely unnoticed, largely because he didn’t do anything.

His stats threw four games at the NBA level read : 0.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.o steals all in 12.4 minutes per game. Now we all know there is no way in hell that his numbers will stay that low but during his first season will he impress?

Bennett didn’t neccarsly come into the ideal situation being drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers. When he was picked I really thought that he was going to get traded, but the Cavs held out and kept the guy they picked. Bennett is a player that is really without a position in the NBA as he is not quick enough to play small forward but at the same time is undersized for the power forward spot. The Cavs are probably one of the weakest teams in the NBA when it comes to the small forward spot (the Phoenix Suns and Atlanta Hawks are in the conversation too though) and already have a young developing power forward in Tristan Thompson who started all last year and doesn’t look like he’s giving up his spot to his fellow Canadian. The center spot is just out of the question not only because of his size (6 foot 8, 256 pounds) but because there is already a three man big man tag team in Anderson Vajerao, Andrew Bynum and Tyler Zeller. He could play small forward but even with the lack of good players at the 3 spot the team they still have CJ Miles, Alonzo Gee and Earl Clark clogging up minutes. So pretty much right now in his career, Anthony Bennett is a back up power forward.

So will he be a bust? I say nah, I feel like Bennett will be a late bloomer. I watched him play in the preseason versus the Orlando Magic. Most of the game Bennett didn’t look that much like a number pick, but then the fourth quarter came and he was on fire. He was hitting three pointers, mid range spots and taking it to the basket too. He wasn’t much of a defender but offensively and rebounding wise the kid was looking pretty good. That offensive potential is still there, it hasn’t gone anywhere, he’s just struggling now.

When his struggles end, Bennett probably won’t be in the Rookie of the Year race. Not being that he’s not talented because I know he is, but because it’ll probably go to someone who’s gotten the keys to the franchise (ex. Michael Carter-Williams, Philadelphia 76ers or Trey Burke, Utah Jazz when he returns from injury). Those players have nothing in their way they’ll start and get big minutes from the jump. Other top picks like Bennett, Victor Oladipo (to and exstent though because he’s getting good minutes), and Otto Porter have more experience players ahead of them in the rotation. These guys were picked for what they can do for the future, any added bonus right now will get no complaints from their franchises though.

Anthony Bennett will struggle but it won’t last for long. This guy may not be a star but he can definately be a productive NBA player. He just will need the time and oppurtunity. He’ll get it soon enough and then we’ll know what type of player Anthony Bennett will really be. For now I won’t call him a bust, just a late bloomer.

AP Photo