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Anthony Bennett, the former Cavaliers No. 1 pick who failed to impress in Cleveland, Minnesota and Toronto, is likely among the free agents invited to Nets mini-camp this week, Ian Begley reports.
Former No. 1 pick Anthony Bennett is expected to be among the group of veteran FAs working out at the Nets' minicamp this week, per sources.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) May 24, 2016
The Nets have not released names of those invited to the camp although, like Bennett, names are filtering out.
Bennett, just turned 23, was taken overall No. 1 in the 2013 NBA Draft, a surprise pick in what was considered one of the worse drafts in years. Among those taking after him were Victor Oladipo, Otto Porter and Nerlens Noel.
A 6'8" power forward out of UNLV, Bennett never panned out. In his rookie season, he averaged 4.3 points and 3.0 rebounds. Then, in July 2014, he became part of the trade that brought Kevin Love to Cleveland and brought him and fellow Canadian Andrew Wiggins to Minnesota. In Minnesota, he did only marginally better, averaging 5.2 and 3.8 but Bennett was bought out the next off-season. He got yet another chance with his hometown team, the Raptors, but once again, was bought out after a mediocre season and multiple assignments to the D-League.
Doug Smith, the respected Toronto Star writer, described his issues this way...
Privately, NBA people worried about his true love for the game, his dedication to conditioning, his willingness to consistently put in the time necessary. Everyone likes Bennett — he is a nice, shy, polite young man who people want to see succeed — but they all grew increasingly frustrated with his inability to grasp what it really takes in the cut-throat world of the NBA.
Bennett also had injuries to his shoulder, back and ankle along the way. He is represented by Jeff Schwartz's Excel Sports Management.
Other than Bennett, the other free agents whose names have circulated are undrafted American players who played overseas and in the D-League...
--D.J. Newbill, the 6'4" Penn State PG who's played in Turkey and France.
--Will Cummings, the 6'2" Temple PG who's played in Italy as well as the D-League
--Jarrid Famous, the 6'11" South Florida PF who's played for teams in the D-League, the Philippines, the Dominican Republic, China, Lebanon, Bahrain and Venezuela. A New York native.
--Victor Rudd, the 6'9" South Florida PF, who's played in Russia and the D-League.
--Josh Magette, the 6'1" Alabama-Huntsville PG, who's played for D-League as well as teams in Greece and Germany
--Joel Wright, the 6'7" Texas State SF who's been a D-League standout for the past two years, playing for the Iowa Energy, Bakersfield Jam, the Idaho Stampede and Delaware 87ers.
The Nets are working out draft prospects as well this week.