I have some advice for how Anthony Bennett can stay in the NBA should he get released by Minnesota.

Hundreds of sports fans huddled inside bars and living rooms. The late May sun crept through Minnesotan windows and the world stood still to see what events would transpire. After dealing star big man Kevin Love to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Andrew Wiggins one year ago, the Minnesota Timberwolves were one lucky ping-pong ball away from back-to-back number one overall picks and all the optimism in the world.

Luckily for Minnesota, the ping pong ball lottery gods shone down on them and they were gifted the number one pick. It’s rare enough to get one and now Minnesota had two.

In the history of the NBA, the number one overall pick has been a sure thing more often than not, and we’re not talking as if it’s only consistently producing good players – we’re talking perennial all-stars and generational talents. 

Allen Iverson, LeBron James, Tim Duncan, and Anthony Davis have all been taken number one overall. That’s four generational players in less than 20 years, not to mention the likes of Elton Brand, Dwight Howard, and in recent years Blake Griffin, John Wall and Kyrie Irving.

Following in their footsteps we have Wiggins and now Karl-Anthony Towns, two Space Jam-esque phenomenons on the same (Toon) squad in Minnesota. Staying with the Timberwolves, it’s easy to forget this duo could have easily been a trio. Minnesota, in fact, could have courted the top pick from the last three drafts were it not for the mediocre crashing and burning of the career of Anthony Bennett, the all-forgotten top pick in 2013. But it was not to be; according to Yahoo Sports, Bennett and Minnesota mutually agreed upon a buyout.

Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Bennett was traded to Minnesota by the Cavaliers along with Wiggins. The move was made during the summer of 2014 in the aforementioned trade for Kevin Love. At that moment, Bennett was already a forgotten commodity, almost an irrelevant part of the package. Wiggins was the gem, the queen of hearts, while Bennett was simply a joker that Minnesota would conveniently accommodate in the hopes of a good joke or two. So how did the top pick from only two years ago fall so far from grace?

Well, first and foremost, the 2013 draft had no consensus number one pick and will likely go down as one of the weakest classes of the past decade. Nerlens Noel, who fell 6th to New Orleans and was then traded to Philly for Jrue Holiday, was supposed to be the top pick, but, after he tore his ACL during his freshman year at Kentucky against Florida, all bets went out the window. But still, no one expected Bennett’s name to be muttered with the first pick.

Draft Express, one of the best resources and websites on all things NBA draft, had Bennett going 8th to the Detroit Pistons. So it’s not like he was projected 2nd or 3rd and someone was justifiably enamored by him. The site still had Cleveland taking an injured Noel over Bennett and the rest of the class. This also wasn’t exactly a guy who destroyed college basketball and was just slept on because he wasn’t at a top tier school.

At UNLV, a very good but not great program, ran by Dave Rice, Bennett averaged 16 points, eight rebounds, and shot well from the field (58%) and from three (37.5%). Had he put those numbers up at say a Duke or Kentucky it might have been a different story. Then again Christian Wood, a UNLV player from this past season, averaged almost 16 and 10 and he didn’t even get drafted this year, which speaks volumes to not only how thin the 2013 class was, but also to how below par Bennett was as a top-end prospect.

At the time the pick was probably defensible, a stretch four with plenty of potential to partner Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters as the next young core for the Cavs, but it wasn’t meant to be. He would go on to miss 30 games his rookie year and wasn’t even given a chance to play, averaging just under 13 minutes per game and only four points. That being said, it was reported back in 2013 that he struggled with fitness and rumors spread that he didn’t have the work ethic to be good, let alone great. His shot chart wasn’t much better:

Yet, in the trade package he still offered a good amount of upside for Minny. He got in shape and even looked decent in last year’s Summer League. But the 6-foot-8, 245 pound power forward shot the ball dreadfully from deep in his sophomore year, only played in 57 games, and had the fourth worst defensive Real Plus-Minus among all NBA power forwards. What good is an undersized stretch four who can’t defend or shoot?

Luckily for Bennett, the league is gravitating more and more toward positional versatility and, should he hone his three point shooting, he’ll absolutely have a place in the league. And he won’t even be 23 until next March. Now, there’s a lot of work to be done, but this is what I would do if I was Anthony Bennett and wasn’t ready to give up on my basketball dreams:

I would lock myself in a room studying all game tape available of Draymond Green. That’s everything he needs to know about how he would and can become an asset to a team. Secondly, I’d put on more muscle, a la Green, and finally make taking three point shots a part of my daily routine, three times a day. It also wouldn’t hurt to get in the best shape of my life.

Bennett will go down as one of the worst number one picks of the past two decades, but that doesn’t mean his career is over, not in the slightest. He’s not the first bust nor will he be the last, he just happens to be the most recent. Now with a buyout from Minnesota he can control his own destiny.

Bennett wanted and received buyout to control fate and success for next NBA team. Portland expected suitor, w/ Canada coaching connections.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 22, 2015

But come on, there is no way he’s not good enough to be in the league and really should be a bench player, even likelier making it into someone’s rotation. Whether it’s the Blazers or someone else, an opportunity should arise. It’ll just be down to whether Bennett wants to put the work in and fulfill what’s left of his promise. It seems like he’s doing just that as he’s escaped from being buried in the depth chart and is ready to bet on himself.

Edited by John Ray.