What's Holding Anthony Bennett Back from NBA Success?

For most NBA players, August and September are the dog days on the calendar. During these late summer months, player-organized minicamps, individual workouts and promotional trips overseas soak up the time not spent relaxing with friends and family.

For Anthony Bennett, August and September have been imbued with a sense of purpose and determination that folks familiar with his work in the Association probably won't readily recognize. If anything, the man-child, who's spent the summer running, dunking, rebounding and swatting in a No. 10 jersey for Team Canada, might look more like an impostor than a bust for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves.

In Cleveland, Bennett missed his first 16 shots as a pro on the way to turning in arguably the worst rookie season ever seen from a No. 1 overall pick. In Minnesota, where he wound up by way of the Kevin Love-Andrew Wiggins trade in August 2014, Bennett's production improved, but only about as much as could be seen through a microscope.

But at the 2015 Pan American Games in his hometown of Toronto, Bennett looked like a man among boys, including on his own squad. In five games, he averaged 15.6 points and 10.4 rebounds—both team highs—while shooting a shade under 55 percent from the field on the way to Pan Am silver.

Bennett hasn't been quite the same singular force at the FIBA Americas tournament thus far, in part because he's surrounded by better talent, in an event with Olympic implications. To Bennett's credit, though, he's led a squad loaded with NBA-pedigreed players in rebounding and field-goal percentage (as of Sept. 9).

And it's not as though Bennett wasn't capable of putting the "power" in "power forward" before. He did plenty of bruising and bullying on the basketball court during his lone season at UNLV.

So what's changed for Bennett? How has he been able to make an impact on behalf of his country after hardly registering on the NBA Richter scale? 

"[I'm] just playing with confidence, pretty much," Bennett told reporters prior to the tournament in Mexico City, per TSN's Josh Lewenberg. "Just going out there, playing defense, running the court. Just doing the little things first and trying to make offense come to me."

Health Issues, Cleveland Edition

It's tough to play with confidence at any level, much less in the NBA and without good health. To that end, it's easy to see how Bennett lost so much of his former mojo.

He arrived in the league in 2013, fresh off of surgery to repair the rotator cuff in his left shoulder. His four-month recovery from that injury kept him from auditioning for teams prior to the draft, partaking in the annual redraft combine in Chicago and playing with the Cavs squad in the Las Vegas Summer League.

All that time away from the game did a number on Bennett's once-beastly body. As Yahoo Sports' Marc J. Spears wrote, in announcing Bennett's return to on-court activities in Sept. 2013, "He has played well, but needs to get in much better shape as the start of training camp nears."

Apparently, Bennett didn't get there in time, if his dismal debut campaign was any indication. He often looked lost and out of sorts—even more than the typical rookie—prompting some, including CBS Sports' Ken Berger, to wonder why Cleveland hadn't sent Bennett down to the NBA D-League to improve his conditioning and ply his trade:

"

The point is, couldn't Bennett, 20, benefit from a developmental stint in a league where he could get consistent practice reps and meaningful minutes? Especially now, when the Cavs' acquisition of Luol Deng in Monday night's trade with Chicago presumably will push Bennett even further onto the fringe of the Cavs' rotation?

If half the battle with highly valued draft picks is developing them to their full potential, why not use all the tools in your bag? The D-League has come a long way as an accepted venue for legitimate player development. The question of what to do with Anthony Bennett perhaps represents the next frontier.

"

Health Issues, Minnesota Edition

In Bennett's case, he'd find that next frontier in Minneapolis, where he, Wiggins and Thaddeus Young wound up as recompense from Cleveland and Philadelphia for Love's services.

Unfortunately for Bennett, the injury bug that bit him in college and trailed him into the pros still stuck by the time he joined the Timberwolves. After sitting out 30 games as a rookie, he missed 25 more in Year 2 while nursing an ankle injury.

Nowadays, health isn't such a concern for Bennett. Prior to his participation with Team Canada, he spent much of his summer sculpting his frame and refining his game with noted NBA trainer Drew Hanlen.

"My body feels great," Bennett told TSN. "I feel like I'm 100 per cent right now. Just getting out and running like I did at UNLV."

Even if Bennett had been healthy from the get-go, he might not have known how to put his tools to proper use.

During his first two seasons, he devoted too much time converting into a bulky wing rather than maximizing his strengths as a somewhat undersized forward. The more time he spent outside of the paint shooting threes and trying to make plays off the dribble, the less he had left to barrel his way to the rim on fast breaks and bully his opponents on the boards.

Finding a Niche

Bennett is certainly capable of affecting the game with finesse. 

"His ability to pass the basketball, his ability to get teammates open," Canada coach Jay Triano told the Toronto Sun's Ryan Wolstat. "I'm really happy for him as an individual and we need him to continue to play that way."

The Wolves won't need him to play that way. They're already stocked up on skilled creators, from youngsters like Ricky Rubio, Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine to the oldest head of all, Andre Miller. In Minnesota, Bennett's best shot to play a significant role will probably come as a rebounder, screen-setter and fast-break finisher.

Which is to say, as what he's been for Team Canada at the FIBA Americas tournament. Playing alongside Wiggins, Nik Stauskas and Cory Joseph (among others) has afforded Bennett a golden opportunity to not only stay in his lane, but master it in close proximity to NBA talent.

But as much as Bennett's grasp of his own abilities might've improved by the end of the summer, there's no guarantee he'll get to strut his stuff once he returns to the Association in the fall. At every step, he's been buried further and further down his squad's depth chart.

David Sherman/Getty Images

As a rookie, he backed up Tristan Thompson in Cleveland. He began Year 2 behind Young in Minnesota. By late February, Young was gone, but Kevin Garnett and Adreian Payne had been brought in to play ahead of Bennett. This season, he'll have to contend with those two along with another No. 1 pick, Kentucky's Karl-Anthony Towns.

Greener Pastures?

The writing may already be on the Target Center walls for Bennett. He can shape up all he wants, but barring a sizable roster shakeup in Minnesota, his best bet to at least try to reach his ceiling would be to find a home elsewhere.

Not surprisingly, then, the Wolves have been open to trading Bennett but have yet to find any takers, per the Associated Press' Jon Krawczynski.

"

As I've said in the past, Wolves would move Anthony Bennett for the right price, but there are no active discussions right now

— Jon Krawczynski (@APkrawczynski) August 22, 2015"

Who knows? Maybe Bennett's big summer with Team Canada will pique the interest of the NBA's outpost in Toronto. Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri has made it clear that he wants to add more maple to the mix at the Air Canada Centre.

"We are an NBA team, it's important we look for talent everywhere, but it is on our minds to get a Canadian player or Canadian players," Ujiri said in March, per Wolstat.

Ujiri followed through on that pledge this summer, when he signed Joseph away from the San Antonio Spurs to a four-year, $30 million deal. Thompson could be next, with Bleacher Report's Ric Bucher suggesting that the Toronto native's max-contract demands may be a ploy to put him on the Raptors' payroll next summer.

In the meantime, the team could look to fill its void at power forward with the scantly used Bennett. Or perhaps another squad will try to buy low on a player who, just two years ago, was a blue-chip prospect.

Wherever Bennett winds up, he'll be the healthiest, most skilled, most confident and most determined he's been since he first set foot in the NBA. With any luck, he'll get to show as much to those willing and able to let him play.

Josh Martin covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.