longstrangetrip wrote:I think the Anthony Bennett situation is far more nuanced than some posters here treat it...his is not a black and white situation. On one hand you can't ignore the subpar stats he has put up his first two years, and his inability to stay healthy. He has not resembled a #1 pick in any way, and at close to $6 million a year and with Towns likely capable of playing the same position, it's easy to understand why Flip might have him on the trading block.
On the other hand, I can't group AB with three other famous #1 busts...Olawakandi, Darko and Bargnani. For one thing, there appears to be a huge difference in how the four of them approach being in the NBA. While the other three always seemed to project a casual, just happy to be there attitude, and didn't have the reputation as putting in a lot of effort, that isn't how anyone would describe AB. He seems to work on his body and his game in the off-season as diligently as anyone on our roster, and has also been praised for being a hard worker in practice. Next, while still modest, his stats clearly improved from year 1 to year 2. He raised his shooting percentage almost 7 percentage points in his sophomore season, and his per 36 stats were not horrendous...12.0 points and 8.7 rebounds. Not #1 pick numbers at all, to be sure, but at least decent 2nd year rotation player numbers.
The eye test for AB is mixed, but mostly negative, although sometimes I wonder how much of that has to do with how Flip directs him on offense. On the positive side, he showed a sweet touch and good form on his long 2-point shots in the first half of the year, and his dunks on the few times he actually went to the basket were often jaw-dropping. But at other times, and way too often, he seemed lost on both offense and defense.
I am far from giving up on AB. I sometimes go back and watch his college highlights (and his less frequent pro highlights), and nobody with an honest, informed opinion can deny that he has some impressive physical gifts. Jim Peterson says that AB lost confidence as the year went on, and I don't disagree. His form on his jumper looked the same, but it went in much less frequently the last half of the year. And it's baffling to me why he doesn't play inside more often (to that point, it's good to hear he is working hard on his post game this summer). There is so much potential there, and it frustrates me when he drifts on the court as he has a tendency to do sometimes.
After two injured and poor statistical seasons, GMs are going to be wary of giving up much for AB...even if they recognize his potential. That's why I'm not in favor of pulling the trigger on a trade...I much prefer seeing how he performs in a third year, although I fully recognize that Flip only has training camp and a few games at the start of the season before he needs to make a decision on AB's option...not optimal timing.
In two days, we are almost certain to add Towns to an already promising roster. While GMs spend more time looking at stats, I think players know who the real ballers are. I suspect if you asked KAT who he was excited about playing with this season, he would mention Rubio, Wiggins, KG, LaVine, Shabazz and...Anthony Bennett. There's no question he has seen all the highlight videos, and knows the kind of potential lurking there.
Like I said, AB's situation is quite nuanced. I understand why some would advocate dealing him for the likes of Vasquez...a 1-way journeyman PG. Better to get something for AB than to decline his option and let him leave for nothing. But my position still is to let the year play out. My expectations are balanced, but I also know that if AB could regain the confidence he had at UNLV, he could be a real X factor on this team.
This is a well thought out and fair post. Hey LST I feel what you are saying I was in this spot going into Derrick Williams 3rd year he had improved just enough and we had a hole at SF there was some small hope he could fill. I didn't see us getting anythig too exciting so I figured let's hold onto him. I said that and u was never a big believer in the guy. (I bought into what Q had to say about him before the draft). There is a hole at PF for the future and Bennett is there and even more so than Wiiliams we probably aren't going to get anything exciting for Bennett. I don't have a problem with people having hope for the guy I used to be about as OpTIMistic as anyone on the old ESPN board but my reason for moving on from Bennett is because he can't stay healthy hasn't done much on the court when he has been and when I watch him play it doesn't seem like he gets it. Derrick Williams is a decent bench player at best and he showed more by now than Bennett and missed no games. I think there might be a couple teams out there that think that Bennett can still be something like the people on this board that like him. I hope we can move him to one of those teams for something that might be more worthwhile this year. That's where I am at. If we end up keeping Bennett it's cool I'll hope for the best but if we can even get a decent vet for him at a spot we need a player sure. I am not paying any assets to dump him though.
