Bennett should look to his fellow Anthony for next steps in NBA career
It’s a statement we’ve seen too many times already. Halfway through his fourth NBA season, former No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett has been waived. Again. This time it’s the Brooklyn Nets who are no longer in need of Bennett’s services. Before that, it was the Toronto Raptors in March. Before that, the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Bennett is perhaps the biggest draft bust among top picks in NBA history. Only Larue Martin, the top pick by the Portland Trail Blazers in 1972, comes close to comparing. In four seasons with four different NBA teams, Bennett played just 12.6 minutes per game, averaging 4.4 points and 3.1 rebounds. He missed his first 18 NBA shots with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2013-14. He shot 29.6 percent from the field last season with Toronto. He was by most statistical measures having his best NBA season with Brooklyn: 5.0 points and 3.4 rebounds per game on 41.3 percent from the field and 27.1 percent from 3-point range.
Bennett set an impressively low bar in his rookie season, and struggled to consistently clear it. Meanwhile players like Victor Oladipo, Otto Porter, and Cody Zeller, who were all in consideration for Bennett’s No. 1 slot in the 2013 NBA Draft, just received or are anticipating big paydays for their growth as Bennett has floundered.
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Bennett reminds of another high-profile draft bust who shares his first name: Anthony Randolph. Like Randolph, Bennett was drafted based on potential more than production out of college. While Randolph had shown two-way potential as an athletic rim protector who could step out and hit 3s on offense, Bennett was tabbed as a Larry Johnson-type — a versatile scoring machine who could post-up, hit 3s, and approach being a double-digit rebounder. He’d need work on his touch, basketball IQ, and conditioning to get there, but that potential sounded better to Cavs GM Chris Grant than the flood of super-role players that seemed to dot the top of that draft. So while Randolph went No. 14 to Golden State in a deeper 2008 NBA Draft, Bennett got picked way higher than he should have.
But despite their difference in stakes, the two Anthony’s developed similar reputations over their NBA careers. Both showed brief flashes of competence in their rookie years mixed with long stretches of poor play, centering around a lack of conditioning and basketball IQ. Both were brought up in terrible development situations — Randolph during the post-We Believe Warriors era, Bennett in the horrific 2013-14 Cavaliers locker room. Neither showed much early on, but you couldn’t blame either for not developing in the situations they were placed in.
Both were throw-in pieces in high-profile star trades by their initial teams, as well. Bennett, of course, was a part of the Kevin Love-Andrew Wiggins deal in 2014, as there was no place on the Cavs for remedial development with LeBron James around. Randolph was actually involved in two of these deals — first as the so-called centerpiece of the David Lee trade to the New York Knicks, and then to Minnesota in the Carmelo Anthony trade. After both spent time in Minnesota, they found their ways to different playoff teams — Randolph to George Karl’s Denver Nuggets, Bennett to the Raptors.
When those situations didn’t work out, it was one last move (Chicago for Randolph, Brooklyn for Bennett) and out of the league.
Bennett is now at that key point where Randolph found himself in 2014: Fresh off his fourth destination being a failure, at the age 23-24 season when teams expect development to occur more mentally than in terms of pure skill. The basketball path for Bennett is very tenuous right now. At this point his time for potential is almost run out, and he needs to produce something at some level to justify continuing his career. Whether that’s in the NBA, D-League, or internationally, Bennett needs to start doing something tangible.
And that’s where this comparison could come in handy for Bennett. Randolph’s next step after being waived by the Bulls was Europe, and he’s managed his transition to post-NBA life very well. Randolph found Lokomotiv Kuban, a Russian squad that already featured a player in former Washington Wizard Chris Singleton that could handle advanced defensive assignments, letting Randolph fly around and block shots and finish pick-and-rolls. After two successful years there, he landed a deal with Real Madrid, a team deep with veteran frontcourt players that could again allow Randolph to play to his strengths while compensating for his weakness as a player. It has also helped that he’s gotten to play for two of the best coaches in Europe today: Georgios Bartzokas at Kuban, and Pablo Laso at Real Madrid.
Randolph has been helped by the drop-off in athleticism in the European game from the NBA, of course. But not every American can succeed at the level Randolph has right off the bat based on athleticism alone. More than anything, Randolph and his agent have been very smart about putting him in situations that will allow him to be the raw chaos engine his strengths allow him to be by blocking shots, finishing pick-and-rolls, and blowing up plays with his length in the halfcourt. These teams have also surrounded him with technically sound veterans to cover for the mistakes that come with the Anthony Randolph Experience — Singleton and Victor Claver at Kuban, and then Gustavo Ayon, Felipe Reyes and Andres Nocioni at Real Madrid. Randolph’s strengths are magnified in Europe, and his weaknesses have been covered by the situations he’s entered.
Bennett can hope to do the same thing now. While he may stick around the D-League for the rest of the season due to the timing of being waived, he’s a candidate for both China and Europe. The nature of the Chinese game would give Bennett a size advantage and allow him to focus on his scoring skills. Europe, meanwhile, would allow him to tap into his potential as a post-up player, build his defensive game, and improve his conditioning. Either way, Bennett needs to take the lessons Randolph has given in his ventures internationally. Finding a team that can compensate for his weaknesses — a deep team that can use him in spot minutes, a good defensive squad, and preferably a good point guard that can work with him in the pick-and-pop — will be the most beneficial for him to concentrate on the areas he’s strongest in. Getting in a good situation will help Bennett build on his skills, and more importantly, improve his confidence, which has been repeatedly broken over the last four seasons in the NBA.
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Bennett is probably done in the NBA for now, but that doesn’t mean he needs to drop out of basketball entirely. Believe it or not, he does actually have legitimate skills, but finding a landing spot that allows him to use and develop those skills will be paramount. The best course of action for Bennett at this juncture will be to follow Randolph’s footsteps — be prudent in finding his next deal, consider the situational fit, and come to terms with his weaknesses to find ways to work around them at the team level.
Bennett can still salvage his career — potentially even making the NBA again, like Michael Beasley after his China exodus — but he has a lot of work to do. Finding the right fit as to where that occurs will be the first step.