Former No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft Anthony Bennett will reportedly join his fourth NBA team by signing a two-year deal with the Brooklyn Nets.
According to Shams Charania of The Vertical of Yahoo! Sports, free agent Anthony Bennett has agreed to a two-year deal with the Brooklyn Nets.
Bennett will be joining his fourth NBA franchise in as many seasons since going No. 1 overall to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2013 NBA Draft. Through his first three years in the league since his one-and-done 2012-13 NCAA campaign for the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, Bennett has been arguably the biggest draft bust in the last decade.
Free agent Anthony Bennett has reached agreement on a two-year minimum deal with Brooklyn, sources tell The Vertical. First year guarantee.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 14, 2016
He has only played in 128 career games, starting just three, in his early 20s with the Cavaliers, the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Toronto Raptors. The Canadian power forward managed to only play in 19 games for Toronto last season and was on the precipice of being out of the league before his 24th birthday.
It seems that the lowly Nets are taking a gamble on the failed NBA prospect in 2016-17, as new head coach Kenny Atkinson will plan to indoctrinate him into his strong player development program. Given that the Nets failed to keep restricted free agent signees Allen Crabbe and Tyler Johnson, perhaps the signing of Bennett can help the Nets in their front court by buying low on a player like Bennett.
Brooklyn isn’t going to contend for the 2017 Eastern Conference Playoffs, so maybe the occasional spot start for Bennett might be instrumental in getting his once-promising NBA career on track.
For now, it seems like Brooklyn believes in him. However, if he can’t flourish in Atkinson’s player development program, it will, unfortunately, be the end of Bennett’s NBA career less than four seasons since going No. 1 overall to Cleveland out of UNLV in 2013.
For more NBA free agency news, please check out our NBA free agency category page.