Chad Ford: Anthony Bennet: Worst #1 pick in 20 years

[Godzuki]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...rial&hpt=hp_t2


Anthony Bennett has been terrible.

How terrible? He's apparently the worst top pick in two decades.

Or so cautions ESPN's Chad Ford.

"It's very early, but right now, he's looking like the worst in the past 20 years," Ford explains, via The Plain Dealer's Jodie Valade. "That includes Greg Oden. Oden was injured all the time, but when he played, he at least looked like a No. 1 pick."

Band-Aids can be found down Aisle 2, Mr. Bennett. You're going to need a dozen industrial-sized boxes to dress the wounds Ford inflicts.

Stock up on some Mad Libs while you're at checkout, too. You'll need a distraction for when you realize Ford is totally serious and completely justified.

Bennett is averaging 2.2 points and two rebounds on 27.7 percent shooting in 20 games this season. He's only logging 10 minutes a night, but that's because he hasn't given the Cleveland Cavaliers any reasons to play him more.

It took Bennett five games to nail his first shot of the year. That's about the level of play Jason Kidd demonstrated near the end of his career.

In those four previous games, Bennett's stat line looked a little something like this:

Those are some pretty depressing numbers.

They also make his continued struggles far from surprising. There was an initial shock, but if he was off to a historically bad start, then it's only fitting that he should find himself the subject of notorious draft busts now.

"Still early" isn't a good enough excuse anymore. "Bust" may be a strong label, but Bennett is well on his way to deserving such a tag.

The last rookie to average under three points and 2.1 rebounds while connecting on fewer than 30 percent of his shots in at least 10 minutes per game for an entire season was Craig Brackins in 2010-11. He's no longer in the NBA.

Will Anthony Bennett go down as worst No. 1 pick of last 20 years?
Most definitely No, he'll turn things around. Way too early to tell. Submit Vote vote to see results

Before him, there was Will Blalock, drafted 60th overall in 2006. He fizzled out after just one season.

See where I'm going with this?

"Hopeless" isn't an adequate word to describe Bennett. There is still time for him to turn things around. He had shoulder surgery over the offseason, and any lingering effects could be negatively impacting his play. But hope is waning.

"I’m just as surprised as everyone else," Bennett said of being drafted first overall, per the New York Times' Benjamin Hoffman.

Something tells me Bennett's surprise, then, will be surpassed by this one—the realization that he could be the worst No. 1 pick in 20 years.

[moe94]

Nope. Draft itself was mediocre. Darko is still worse and there is nothing that Bennet can do to change that.

[Nick Young]

Kwame Brown.

Michael Olawakandi.

Bennet has alot to do to live up to their levels of failure but so far he is off to a good start.

Pretty sad this fat kid can't even palm a basketball doe.

[tomtucker]

[K Xerxes]

Worst part is that the pick came completely out of left field. Wasn't this everyone's reaction to the pick?

[Foster5k]

Lmao! Chris Rock looking like that donkey off Shrek.

Anyhow, very few people actually thought taking Bennet #1 overall was a great idea to begin with. Doubt even the naysayers knew he would turn out to be this bad. Either way, the draft was pretty mediocre and no one really stood out over the other.

He has time to improve, however that time is running out.

[East_Stone_Ya]

he needs to be traded

[senelcoolidge]

Send him to the D league. He will get playing time there and regain some sort of confidence.

[Sarcastic]

Nope. Draft itself was mediocre. Darko is still worse and there is nothing that Bennet can do to change that.

Ford said "#1" pick.

[salwan]

He would rather never win a ring than having no eyebrows. He's a Loser without any hunger (no pun intended) to win.

[Marchesk]

Either way, the draft was pretty mediocre and no one really stood out over the other..

Yeah, but come on. There was a top 5 everyone pretty much agreed on, and Bennett wasn't in it.

[moe94]

Ford said "#1" pick.

Yeah, you're right.

Going before Pierce/Dirk/Carter has got to be worse than Bennet, right?

He would rather never win a ring than having no eyebrows. He's a Loser without any hunger (no pun intended) to win.

What? It was a silly hypothetical question that he brushed off like anyone else would. Besides, do you have any idea how much eyebrows mean to a person's face? You'd look like a mutated creature without them. Hating on dude for something that trivial is hilarious.

[jzek]

he needs to be traded

Yes, preferably to Miami.

[CelticBaller]

Hopefully he can turn it around, if he keeps this up he may end up out of the league soon

[knickballer]

It's amazing how fat and out of shape the guy looked coming into training camp and into the season. That alone tells me the guy is going to be a bust.

Dude can barely dunk atm and has no lift what so ever in his shots/dunks.

Lets say he was a second round pick he would have been cut in training camp and out of the league completely at this point likely.