NBA Trade Rumors 2015: Will the Minnesota Timberwolves Trade Anthony Bennett?
Anthony Bennett was drafted first overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers to the surprise of most people, especially Bill Simmons.
As per a report from ESPN, Bennett struggled in his rookie season because of sleep apnea, a shoulder injury. Rant Sports also adds that Bennet had conditioning issues before he was dealt along with 2014 first overall pick Andrew Wiggins to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Kevin Love trade.
In Minnesota, he had a strong summer league and showed some improvement throughout the season but never gained significant playing time. He never seemed to be part of the Timberwolves' future and was part of some trade rumors this offseason as reported by CBS Sports.
According to Bleacher Report, the Timberwolves drafted Karl-Anthony Towns, resigned Kevin Garnett and may or may not trade Nikola Pekovic. Bennett would probably battle these players for playing time this upcoming season.
Team owner Glen Taylor said to Bleacher Report, "We shouldn't assume he'd go. Anthony has had a good summer." The 22 year-old played at the 2015 Pan American Games in his hometown of Toronto, Canada and averaged 15.6 points and 10.4 rebounds while shooting under 55 percent from the field as he led the hosts to a Silver finish."
Bennett wasn't quite as good at the FIBA Americas tournament wherein Canada won the bronze medal, just missing an automatic qualification for the 2016 Rio Olympics. To his credit, he averaged 7.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and had a team-high of 54 percent from the field.
During the FIBA Americas, Canada National team head coach Jay Triano praised Bennett's game. He said, as quoted by the Toronto Sun, "I think Anthony Bennett's summer has been absolutely fantastic for us. He's engaged in everything that we do on the floor, off the floor, rebounding. He runs the floor on a continuous basis. He provides help on the defensive end. He understands our defensive system."
And Bennett was having fun himself at the tournament, telling the Toronto Sun, "This is definitely a fun tournament to play in. A lot of competition, different teams, different styles so you've just got to adjust."
NBC Sports states that due to his good summer, Bennett is on the trade rumors as fans want to sell him high, and the front office GM's will gauge his value in the trade market.
As for the Timberwolves, NBA.com reports that Sam Mitchell has been named interim head coach while Flip Saunders undergoes treatment for Hodgkins's Lymphoma. Owner Glen Taylor believes Mitchell will run 90 percent of Saunders' system and have 10 ten percent as his own, per Darren Wolfson.
Subscribe to Latin Post!
Sign up for our free newsletter for the Latest coverage!
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of latinpost.com