In two days, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves will be able to make the Kevin Love deal official. As part of the package going to the ‘Wolves, it was reported that Anthony Bennett would be traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Thaddeus Young. However, reports are now suggesting he might stay put.
According to Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune, reports of Bennett being traded to the 76ers are untrue:
Just a reminder: if you keep reading Bennett is headed to Philly for Young in forthcoming trade…don't believe it.
— Jerry Zgoda (@JerryZgoda) August 20, 2014
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Flip Saunders seems to believe that even without Love, the ‘Wolves have a chance to win now and make the playoffs this season, which is pretty unrealistic when you consider how tough the Western Conference has become. Young is a competent player and much more established than Bennett, but the trade only made sense for a team that could contend immediately.
Bennett was a huge disappointment in his rookie season, but showed up in great shape at Summer League and played well enough to make him more than just a throw-in for this deal.
Along with the athletic trio of Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine and Glenn Robinson III, keeping Bennett would give the ‘Wolves a very promising young core of players. At the very least, it will allow Saunders to evaluate the value of his assets and proceed as he wishes.
For Bennett and everyone involved in the potential trade, it’s been an awkward few weeks of waiting for everything to be finalized. Earlier this week, fans noticed Bennett had removed anything Cavs related on his Instagram feed.
In an interview with Gregory Strong of The Toronto Star this week, Bennett spoke about the uncertainty:
Any worries about being dealt?
“I’m just a young man that’s ready to work,” he said. “Wherever I end up, it doesn’t really matter to me. I just want to play basketball.”
Bennett finally opened up a little when asked about whether he had any advice for Wiggins as a fellow first overall pick.
“Pretty much I just told him to work hard,” he said. “Just try not to listen to everybody. You can have one bad game, you can have one real good game. But you know, it’s just a long season full of ups and downs.”
If Bennett does end up staying with the ‘Wolves, he’ll have plenty of time to dish out advice to Wiggins as they try and turn things around together in Minnesota.
What do you think?
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