Anthony Bennett injury: Cleveland Cavaliers 1st overall pick out 3 weeks with knee injury

Anthony Bennett had a horrendous start to his rookie season. But after a bad couple of months and some humbling experiences, Bennett started to get on track. He slimmed down considerably and continuously worked to get better. Recently, the first overall draft pick had started to see some positive results from his hard work. But now he'll face yet another challenge in what has been a remarkably challenging rookie season.

According to a press release from the Cleveland Cavaliers, Anthony Bennett's knee injury has been bothering him more recently. He had an MRI done on his left knee and it revealed a strain of the patellar tendon. He's going to be sitting out for roughly 3 weeks while he tries to recover from that injury.

Cavaliers forward Anthony Bennett was examined yesterday by Head Team Physician Dr. Richard Parker at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health. His exam and MRI revealed a left patellar tendon strain. He will be OUT approximately three weeks while receiving treatment and continued evaluation. His status will be updated as appropriate.

This is a total bummer because Bennett has been playing better lately. He has started to show why Chris Grant and the Cavs' front office felt that he had substantial upside. Now, he'll be back in the trainer's room. If he's actually out for the next 3 weeks, that puts his return around the first week of April. The Cavs have 7 games in April before the end of the season. It obviously depends on how he's feeling at that point, but the team will have an interesting decision to make. Do you shut him down and just let him get completely healthy for the offseason or do you throw him out there and get him some more experience as the season winds down?