After getting drafted 1st overall in the 2013 NBA Draft, Canadian power forward Anthony Bennett only ended up playing four seasons in the league, bouncing around from the Cavaliers, to the Timberwolves, to the Raptors and to the Nets.
At the time, most experts were surprised to see Bennett selected as early as he was in the draft. Looking back at the first round, the pick is even more more shocking in retrospect, with Giannis Antetokounmpo, C.J. McCollum, Rudy Gobert, Victor Oladipo and Steven Adams all going later on in the draft.
In Jason Lloyd's new book, The Blueprint: LeBron James, Cleveland's Deliverance and the Making of the Modern NBA, former Cavaliers GM David Griffin went over why the franchise decided to use their first overall pick on Bennett, and why he ultimately regretted it.
“The issue with Anthony was, and we had no way of knowing it at the time, the kid had no desire to overcome adversity whatsoever. As soon as it was hard, he was out,” (David) Griffin said. “His whole life, he rolled out of bed bigger, better, and more talented than everybody else. As soon as it was hard, it was over. And I was the one on campus at UNLV. I’m the one who got sold the bill of goods and I bought it hook, line, and sinker. You (expletive) up sometimes. But I feel bad Chris took it for that, because Chris was the one guy who wasn’t sure.” (David Griffin - The Blueprint)
Despite Chris Grant --who was the Cavs GM at the time -- being the only member of the team's front office to vote against selecting Bennett with the first overall pick (he wanted to take Ben McLemore) he was ultimately criticized for the decision and was fired in February of 2014.
As for Bennett, the Canadian was recently waived by the Phoenix Suns at the start of the season and is not currently on an NBA roster.
