Houston Rockets forward Anthony Bennett will undergo arthroscopic knee surgery, a procedure that is expected to prevent him from earning a roster spot with the club, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports.
Bennett agreed to a non-guaranteed deal with the Rockets in the summer and was looking forward to possibly making an NBA return after two years spent in Europe and the G League.
The 26-year-old has been unable to participate in Rockets training camp with tendinitis in his left knee that he thought was only going to keep him out on a day-to-day basis.
“It’s tough, but it’s something I can deal with,” Bennett told the Houston Chronicle. “I’m just trying not to aggravate it too much.”
As it turns out, the situation was much worse than he realized.
Bennett was taken No. 1 overall at the 2013 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Despite his high pedigree, it’s been nothing but struggle for the Brampton, Ont., native as a professional.
He’s played for four different NBA teams in four seasons (the Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets) before the NBA appeared to give up on him completely. Afterwards, he played very sparsely with Turkish club Fenerbahçe before landing in the G League where he appeared to be finding his game again.
Last season with the Agua Caliente Clippers, Bennett averaged 12.2 points per game and, more importantly, shot 44.9 per cent from deep, a skill that sparked interest from the Rockets to begin with to take a flyer on him.
Now, with this knee injury, it looks like Bennett will have to start over again.
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