Report: Anthony Bennett cleared for 5 on 5 basketball after shoulder surgery

The Cleveland Cavaliers used the first overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft on Anthony Bennett. Remember that? It was a while ago and we haven't heard much from Bennett since then. He had shoulder surgery in May and was therefore unable to participate on the Cavs' Summer League team in Las Vegas. However, the assumption was always that Bennett would be healthy and ready to go by the time training camp rolled around. And according to a report from Yahoo! Sports' Marc Spears, that's exactly what happened. Anthony Bennett is back to playing 5 on 5 basketball and cleared for all activities.

Bennett had surgery May 8 to repair a torn left rotator cuff that was expected to keep him out for fourth months. The former UNLV star was not able to play for the Cavaliers' summer league team in Las Vegas because of the injury. Bennett, however, began playing five-on-five without any restrictions this week for the first time since the surgery.

This is obviously great news, as it means that Bennett did not have any real setbacks in his recovery and the doctors feel good about him doing everything on the basketball court. Spears also notes in his report that Bennett still needs to get into better shape, but that too is expected. He's been off a basketball court for four months and with his body type, it's not surprising that he would get out of shape with so much time off. Fortunately, Bennett has plenty of time to get into shape. The Cavaliers play their first preseason game on October 8th and the regular season doesn't start until October 30th.

A few days ago, it was reported that Anderson Varejao has been cleared for training camp and now we can add Anthony Bennett to that. Of course, we are still waiting to see how much Andrew Bynum will be able to participate, but we'll deal with that when we have to.

Bennett being cleared for all activities means that he won't miss out on crucial practice time in training camp spent on learning defensive concepts and getting a feel for his new teammates.  And there's no truth to the rumor that the Cavs plan on trading Anthony Bennett for a first round pick after he plays just 17 games as a professional (I kid, I kid, Browns fans).

Basketball season starts soon, my friends.