Anthony Bennett

[Omar The Horse]

There goes my boy.

 

[LBJVirus]

Bennett looking fat again. Glad we got rid of him while he still had value.

 

[Douglar]

Pelton suggests that Bennett has about a 1 in 3 chance of becoming at least an average NBA player, which means the rest of the time, he never gets up to average player. I think that might be too harsh, but I agree that the odds of Bennett becoming better than average are pretty slim.

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/51144/nba-insider-kevin-pelton

Dan (CA)
Do you see Anthony Bennett ever being an average player? If he's terrible again next season should we accept he was a terrible pick in a bad draft?

Kevin Pelton (4:22 PM)
If you were to do a distribution of the possible outcomes of Bennett's career right now, becoming an above-average player in his prime is a better than median outcome. Maybe that happens 33 percent of the time? Another below-replacement season would bring that down dramatically.

 

[Ruken]

I really hope Kevin Love works well for us and Bennett and Wiggins succeed as well. Both seem like good kids and Timberwolves fans really deserve some success...just not their owner or front office

 

[Douglar]

http://www.foxsports.com/north/story/wolves-player-profile-anthony-bennett-091914

Last year: Nothing about Bennett's 2013-14 metrics screams perpetual hope. He couldn't shoot, didn't rebound and had a hard time keeping up with some of the world's best-conditioned athletes.

Even the most elite talent requires a mental and physical shift to the requirements of a sport's highest level. In short spurts, Bennett exhibited such a skill set.

On Feb. 11 against Sacramento, he went off for 19 points and 10 rebounds in one of two double-doubles on the year. During a seven-game stint from Feb. 3-18, he averaged 9.4 points on 47.9 percent field-goal shooting and 5.7 boards per contest.

But those were just strands in an overall tapestry of inadequacy. After showing up for training camp out of shape, Bennett's 4.2 points per game would've ranked 14th out of last year's 30 first-round picks.

And per the league's rookie scale, he made more money than all of them.

......

Now, the 21-year-old Bennett can move on. And, he hopes, up.

Quotable: "I can play. I know last year, I never really got a chance to showcase that." -- Bennett at the Minnesota State Fair.
​

 

[Stark]

If Bennett can get it together, a core of Wiggins, Rubio, LaVine, Bennett, Pekovic and other throw ins could become solid very quickly.

I'm rooting for them.

 

[shoes22]

I don't think it's fair for Bennett to say "I never got a chance last year". He had chance after chance after chance.

 

[calleger]

I don't think it's fair for Bennett to say "I never got a chance last year". He had chance after chance after chance.

To be fair, he is saying he never got a chance to prove he can play at the level he believes himself capable of. That could mean he was hurt, overweight and playing next to subpar talent. Most of that would be true.

 

[Marcus]

I really expected Bennett to surprise people this coming season, after getting back into shape and having a training camp under his belt.

His performance in the Summer League definitely tempered those expectations, despite the fact that he was clearly in better shape than the entire 2013-2014 season. I still expect him to have shown improvement and put up better numbers, but I don't personally project him as anything more than average now, even with lowered expectations in Minnesota. He can probably peak as a 16/8 guy, but I don't see a much higher ceiling than that. Still good numbers, if very underwhelming for a former first overall pick.

 

[Nathan S]

My thought when we drafted him was that he's a shorter Mo Speights with 3 point range, and everything I've seen so far supports that theory.

 

[Cashius X]

His 3 point shooting (actually his shooting in general) hasn't really translated yet but I fully expect it to this season. I think the Mo Speights comparison is a good one as the only thing really holding him back right now imo is his BBIQ or lack thereof.

Still wish him the best and I'll be watching him a lot even though he's not on the Cavs. Will be interesting to see how AB, Andrew Wiggins, and Zach LaVine develop over the years.

 

[Simmy]

I don't think it's fair for Bennett to say "I never got a chance last year". He had chance after chance after chance.

Chances usually run pretty thin when you're missing wide open dunks at the rim.

In all fairness though, I do hope for his sake he can step up this season. The Speights comparison from Nathan S is quite spot on, actually. If not for anything, but the fact that from what I've seen, he seems to only be able to really shine in non-pressure situations.

 

[Tornicade]

Im not a big fan of fairness. Bennett will have plenty of oppurtunity to showcase his skills this season.

I hope he does well if not.. well it really doesn't matter to me anymore. hes not on the team

 

[Splitz]

I don't have much faith in him ever being consistent. I just think he lacks any positive cerebral qualities. He may put up a game or two here and there with impressive stats but he is a dumb player.

 

[AZCavs]

I really expected Bennett to surprise people this coming season, after getting back into shape and having a training camp under his belt.

His performance in the Summer League definitely tempered those expectations, despite the fact that he was clearly in better shape than the entire 2013-2014 season. I still expect him to have shown improvement and put up better numbers, but I don't personally project him as anything more than average now, even with lowered expectations in Minnesota. He can probably peak as a 16/8 guy, but I don't see a much higher ceiling than that. Still good numbers, if very underwhelming for a former first overall pick.

Looking at the most recent photos in this thread, I'd say he lost all the progress he made once he hit the Minnesota State Fair and started shoveling down corn dogs.