Former NBA No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett is to join the P.League+’s Kaohsiung Steelers, the team said on Wednesday.
The announcement came just one day after the club said it had parted ways with former ASEAN Basketball League World Import Most Valuable Play Anthony Tucker.
The 28-year-old 2.03m tall Bennett was the talk of the NBA when the Cleveland Cavaliers chose him as the first overall pick in the 2013 draft, but the Canadian power forward failed to live up to expectations, drifting between four teams over four seasons before dropping out of the NBA in 2017.
Photo: AFP
After one season with the Cavaliers, Bennett played for the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Toronto Raptors and the Brooklyn Nets, appearing in 151 NBA games, and averaging just 4.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 12.6 minutes per game.
The Toronto native also played in the NBA’s G League, before playing in Turkey for Fenerbahce’s EuroLeague championship squad in 2017.
After two more seasons in the G League, he joined Hapoel Jerusalem of the Israeli Basketball Premier League in October last year, but was released last month after just eight appearances, averaging 6.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.9 assists in 13 minutes per game.
Despite his nomadic career, the Steelers said they have high hopes for Bennett as the organization is second to last in the six-team league with a 4-6 record.
In a statement, the Steelers said that Bennett has excellent personal offensive skills, and speed and power for high scoring efficiency.
Bennett is undergoing mandatory quarantine and the earliest fans would be able to see him on the court would be next month, the team said.
Tucker was one of the most popular players in the region due to his prolific scoring and playmaking ability.
The 32-year-old American joined the Steelers last year, but left due to what the club said was an inability to integrate with the team’s style of play.
He played six games for the Steelers and posted an average of 20.17 points, 8.83 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game.
“I’m relaxin’ my feet is up, I’m leavin’ you haters like when Shaq left the Lakers just to Heat it up,” Tucker wrote on Instagram on Tuesday with a photograph of himself at the beach with the sun in the background, which fueled rumors that he might next join the T1 League’s Taichung Wagor Suns.
The rumors were confirmed on Wednesday when the Suns issued a statement officially welcoming Tucker to the club.
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