NBA Draft 2013: Cleveland Cavaliers interested in Anthony Bennett?

Anthony Bennett is coming to Cleveland for a workout, according to Bob Finnan of the News-Herald.

UNLV power forward Anthony Bennett has scheduled his visit with the Cavaliers for Monday, his agent said on Thursday.

Bennett, a 6-foot-7, 239-pounder, is recovering from surgery on his left rotator cuff in May. He won't be doing any court work during his visit, but will meet with the Cavs' front office and coaching staff.

So I guess the question becomes: Could Bennett actually be the first overall pick?

I've written about Bennett at length here, but it's worth revisiting and looking at this specifically from the Cavaliers' perspective. In a vacuum, Bennett's an explosive leaper and decent shooter for a power forward, which makes him possibly the most well-rounded and complete offensive prospect in the draft. However, he's a slightly undersized 4 and not laterally quick enough to defend on the wing. So do the Cavs actually need that?

My answer is unequivocally no. In theory he has a complimentary skill set to Tristan Thompson as a polished scorer for his age, but they can't play together because neither can guard on the perimeter or can guard centers consistently. So basically, you'd be turning one of your prized top 4 picks into a 20 MPG player, which is something that shouldn't happen. And that's before taking into account that the Cavaliers' biggest need is on the defensive end, and he is every bit as apathetic a defender as Luke Walton was this season. It's not what the Cavaliers need.

Another possibility is that they're working him out in case they move down in the draft. That makes more sense, and I'd actually be a lot more amenable to selecting him around fifth overall than I am at first overall. He's anywhere from 5th to 7th on my draft board (in the same tier as Ben McLemore and Alex Len, probably at the bottom of it), so he's certainly not a bad player.

But I don't think he's worthy of the first overall selection by the Cavaliers.