On Anthony Bennett's Downward Spiral and What Comes Next

This article originally appeared on VICE Sports Canada.

You might have forgotten this because of the way the tournament ended, but the Canadian men's team was rolling through the FIBA Americas back in September. The results were bookended by disappointing losses, but no team was within 17 points of Canada in the seven intervening games.

The success was not defined by one player, either. Andrew Wiggins was intermittently dominant; Kelly Olynyk took over at times, including in the improbable semifinal loss; Nik Stauskas and Brady Heslip had spurts where they punched up the team's offence with 3-pointers. This was a collective effort, though, a stylistic triumph more than that of one individual. And, in a way, that was best represented by Anthony Bennett—the former first overall pick who had since become haunted by that description.

Canada wanted to defend relentlessly, push the ball up the floor enthusiastically and take 3-pointers endlessly. The team suffered a blow when Tristan Thompson declared himself unable to play because of his restricted free agency—a reasonable decision—but Bennett stepped in to Thompson's frontcourt spot with little trouble. First in the Pan Am Games in Toronto and then in Mexico City, Bennett ran for days, was active in disrupting opponents' pick-and-rolls and even sunk the occasional long ball. He fit Canada's style perfectly, which was encouraging: It seemed awfully similar to the way the NBA was going.

"I think Anthony Bennett's summer has been absolutely fantastic for us," Canada coach Jay Triano said in Mexico. "He's engaged in everything that we do on the floor, off the floor, rebounding. We've asked him to rebound, and he's done it on a continuous basis. He runs the floor on a continuous basis. He provides help on the defensive end. He understands our defensive system.

"We told him earlier this summer, if you do… things (other than focus on scoring), people are going to understand he's got a lot of other skills: His ability to pass the basketball, his ability to get teammates open."

Fewer than six months later, Bennett has been waived twice, and is currently out of the NBA. Bennett's latest roadbump was getting dumped by his hometown Toronto Raptors in favour of veteran forward Jason Thompson, a depth move general manager Masai Ujiri was smart to make. While saying that, it is likely Thompson will have next to no on-court impact. Head coach Dwane Casey called Thompson an "insurance policy" on Tuesday, and that is why Bennett lost his job.

It is easy, and ultimately pointless, to compare Bennett to other failed top picks. Say what you want about Andrea Bargnani, Kwame Brown and Michael Olowokandi, but they all had lengthy NBA careers. Bennett is in danger of flaming out in his third NBA season, when many players chosen that high are looking forward to signing significant extensions that will set them up for life. No top pick since Charlie Share has ever averaged less than Bennett's 4.2 points per game. Share was drafted in 1950.

Again, that information is trivial and meaningless. Through almost three years, no players picked in 2013 aside from C.J. McCollum (10th), Giannis Antetokounmpo (15th) and Rudy Gobert (27th) look like sure bets to stick with their teams for years to come, let alone sniffing an All-Star Game. Those three players were not candidates for the top pick, while players who were in the mix—Victor Oladipo, Nerlens Noel, Alex Len and Ben McLemore—have produced decidedly mixed results.

Bennett was picked on potential. He dealt with a shoulder injury before he was even drafted and then battled conditioning issues, while playing for a team which was uninterested in his progress once its prospects changed. He's played on three teams in three years. That is to say, he is not your typical No. 1 pick. Bennett did not have a team's patience or care. In many ways, the Cleveland Cavaliers failed him that first year, setting him up for the two failed stops that would follow. That does not let him off the hook for the state of his career, though.

In explaining the move on Tuesday, Ujiri gave the predictable explanation: The Raptors were better than he expected, making it hard to give playing time to a prospect. Bennett, however, is projected as a player who can play both forward spots, and the Raptors had issues at both positions—because of DeMarre Carroll's injury and the uneven play of Luis Scola and Patrick Patterson. Even if the Raptors did not envision Bennett as an instant contributor, he had a chance to slide into some meaningful minutes if he could get Casey to trust him. The chances he was afforded were extremely fleeting, but every Bennett cameo included some defensive inattentiveness. It is easy to feel for Bennett and his lack of real opportunity, but he did not create one for himself, either.

With that in mind, Bennett needs to prioritize two things: playing time, and a learning environment. Perhaps in order to reignite his career, he needs to let go of his NBA dream, at least for a little while.