Anthony Bennett trying to drop 15 pounds for next season
It's a little early to be busting out our 2015-16 #MUSCLEWATCH trackers.
But when a recent No. 1 overall pick vows to lose weight and improve his game, it's worth hearing him out. Even if he did say the exact same things a year prior and failed to deliver.
Anthony Bennett is once again promising personal reform following a disappointing sophomore season. Acquired alongside Andrew Wiggins in the Kevin Love trade last summer, the Minnesota Timberwolves forward is already in Santa Barbara, Cali., working on his game.
Specifically, Bennett is looking to drop 15 pounds and improve his shot mechanics, hoping that Drew Hanlen, the trainer for teammates Wiggins and Zach LaVine, can work his magic.
It's been a tough two seasons for the Canadian out of UNLV, and it would be good to see some good fortune come his way and see the hard work pay off.
Expectations were artificially inflated when he was made the top selection in a 2013 draft without a clear top pick, and medical issues derailed his rookie campaign. He needed offseason shoulder surgery before his pro career even began, struggled through sleep apnea and asthma that hurt his conditioning and ultimately required a tonsillectomy to remedy the issues. On top of all that, he also had vision problems, eventually undergoing laser eye surgery
Timberwolves head coach and president Flip Saunders seemed excited about acquiring Bennett, calling him one of the foundations of the franchise and asking him to eschew shooting threes to work on the rest of his game.
Whatever changed with the multiple surgeries and apparent improved conditioning - Bennett was listed at 245 pounds this year after weighing in at 259 as a rookie - it didn't result in drastically improved performance. One of the most disappointing rookie seasons in memory got better in year two because it couldn't get worse.
Bennett | 2013-14 | 2014-15 |
---|---|---|
Games | 52 | 57 |
MPG | 12.8 | 15.7 |
Pts/36 | 11.8 | 12.0 |
TS% | 42.5% | 45.8% |
PER | 6.9 | 11.4 |
Rbs/36 | 8.4 | 8.7 |
Reb% | 13.1% | 13.8% |
Ast/36 | 0.9 | 1.9 |
Ast% | 4.0% | 8.7% |
All is not necessarily lost here. Bennett made marginal gains across the board, is still 22 years old and is a big man who has some semblance of an outside shot.
He'll earn $5.8 million next season, but he'll need to show Minnesota something substantial this offseason - the Wolves have to decide by Oct. 31 whether to pick up their $7.3-million team option on Bennett for 2016-17.