Cleveland Cavaliers Anthony Bennett says conditioning hardest NBA adjustment

The Cleveland Cavaliers shocked the nation when they selected Anthony Bennett out of UNLV with the first pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.

It’s not that Bennett wasn’t potentially worthy of the selection spot, it’s just few had him pegged to go so high.

Of course, with the Cavs already having a somewhat respectable front court and Bennett coming off an injury, it’s likely we won’t see just how solid or poor of a draft decision it was for a few years.

Until then, the Cavaliers plan to take the cautious approach with Bennett, not throwing him into the fire immediately, rather, having him learn the game at a slower though more thorough pace.

It’s a lesson that he’s already in the process of learning, recently suggesting that the hardest part of the transition from NCAA basketball to the NBA is conditioning:

"Asked what was the most difficult part of adjusting to the NBA, Bennett’s answer explained the extra practice.“The conditioning,” Bennett said. “I’ve been working on it, I’m trying to play longer periods of time in games. Whenever Coach puts me out there I want to go out and play hard, but I’m still trying to improve on that. I’m just taking it day by day.”"

At 260 pounds, Bennett says he’s at his playing weight from college though the Cavs have reportedly asked him to shed a few pounds, hoping to improve his footwork in the post.