The 2013 Draft was a weird one, to put it mildly. Terrified at the prospect of saddling themselves with the next big draft bust — presumptive top pick Nerlens Noel had torn his ACL midway through his lone college season — the Cleveland Cavaliers made what they thought was the safe choice.
But in an epic twist rivaled only by Greek myth, it turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophesy, and the Cavs selected Anthony Bennett, a marginal late lottery pick at best who bounced around to five different teams over four turbulent seasons before finding his way out of the league entirely.
To be fair, a lot of organizations are still kicking themselves for that one. Giannis Antetokounmpo fell all the way to No. 15, and only Victor Oladipo and C.J. McCollum have even come close to justifying going before him. Bennett has been relegated to the G-League the past few years, but it appears he’ll get another shot at the NBA with the Rockets this season.
Former No. 1 pick Anthony Bennett has agreed to a non-guaranteed deal with the Houston Rockets, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 13, 2019
It may come as a surprise that widely-respected league exec David Griffin was at the helm at the time for the Cavs, and even he finds it difficult to account for that particular decision, saying rather bluntly that “you f*ck up sometimes.”
The Rockets, meanwhile, just pulled off a major coup to acquire Russell Westbrook from the Thunder in exchange for Chris Paul and are working to maintain their spot in the Western Conference pecking order. Bennett likely won’t be much of a difference-maker in that regard, but at the very least it will offer him the opportunity to prove whether he belongs in the NBA, which might very well be his last.
