On Jan. 9, the Nets released struggling 23-year-old power forward Anthony Bennett after he sputtered along to five points per game on 41 percent shooting from the field.

In most cases, NBA news like this would be just a footnote in a long day of transactions. Players get released and picked up all the time, especially around this time of the year when 10-day contracts are in play. However, most players released at 23 years old are not former No. 1 overall picks who have been let go by their fourth team in four years.

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Indeed, it’s possible that, barring substantial and unlikely improvement, we’ve seen the last of Bennett in the NBA. Where did it go wrong? How did Bennett become the answer to the trivia question, “Who is the biggest No. 1 overall bust in NBA history?”

“I had Bennett ninth on my board (before the 2013 NBA Draft),” one NBA executive said. “I was shocked the Cavs took him at one. But having said that, I’m even more shocked he’s out of the league. I didn’t think that would ever happen. I said to myself at the time, ‘that’s a bad pick, but he’ll probably be a solid sixth man or fifth starter.’ Not, ‘that’s a bad pick, this dude will be out of the league.’”

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Talk to people who work in NBA front offices, and that’s what you’ll hear. The Cavaliers set Bennett up for failure by placing the expectations of the No. 1 overall pick on his shoulders. But in a weak draft where, for the first time since 2006, no singular player or duo of prospects had established themselves as potential No. 1 overall picks, it wasn’t indefensible from their perspective to make him the first-ever top pick from Canada.

The Cavaliers, to varying degrees, considered as many as six players for the No. 1 overall pick that season: freshman Nerlens Noel, second-year players Alex Len, Otto Porter, and Ben McLemore, junior Victor Oladipo and Bennett. None of the Len, Noel or Bennett group could work out pre-draft due to injury. Porter and Oladipo were considered “lower ceiling” prospects that would likely max out as solid starters — something that’s largely borne itself out thus far. McLemore tanked his draft stock after showing up to workouts overweight and unprepared. This was one of those cases where it was going to be difficult for the Cavs to win, regardless of their decision.

“As they were getting down to the end, I think (Cavaliers general manager Chris Grant) wanted to find a reason for him to be the guy,” another NBA executive said. “There wasn’t an obvious choice among the other guys. It wasn’t a great draft. They were always going to have to talk themselves into a guy they knew had flaws.”

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In the end, they trusted their scouting department and chose Bennett. It was still a surprise not only to the basketball world, but also to Bennett himself that he was selected first.

“I’m just as surprised as everybody else,” Bennett said on draft night. “I had no idea. When they said my name, that’s when I knew.”

Still, there was a lot to like at the time. In his lone year at UNLV, Bennett proved himself to be a diverse offensive weapon who was as adept at rising up for a thunderous, powerful dunk as he was at stepping away from the hoop and hitting 3s. He scored 16.1 points and grabbed 8.1 rebounds per game while putting up a near 61 percent true-shooting percentage and a 26.2 PER. It may not seem like it now, but there was a lot to like about his offensive game. He hit 37.5 percent of his 3s and finished in the 94th percentile in finishing around the basket on non-post-ups in the halfcourt, according to Synergy. He also showed off a post game that got him nearly one point per possession, good for the 72nd percentile.

As you can see above, Bennett had power, length, strength, smoothness and polish at the college level. He showed explosiveness that could be further exploited as a pro. There was a lot to like, even if there were obvious downsides. Defensively, Bennett was a sieve, but most scouts wrote that off — as they do with nearly every “toolsy” freshman — as a youth issue that could work itself out as he got into better shape and started playing more meaningful games.

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But in the end, little of those skills showed up on offense, and his effort level on defense became exacerbated. In his first summer, he didn’t get a chance to play in summer league due to the injury. Then, when his rookie season rolled around, he struggled to adjust to the athleticism around him as he was still out of shape. It took the polished college scorer nearly 50 minutes of game time to score his first field goal in an NBA game, then over half of a season to get into double-figures for the first time — something he only did 16 times in his NBA career.

More than that, though, there were points where Bennett didn’t try while he was on the floor. He quit at times, as seen below with what has to be described as the most casual screen in league history.

(Video via SB Nation's Drew Garrison)

“I don’t think they got the full scoop on (Bennett),” a scout told Sporting News. “UNLV’s staff would say nice things about people. They tolerate a lot. The Cavs got a rosy version of his work ethic and attitude.”

Basically, 2013-14 was a lost developmental year that resulted in one of the worst statistical rookie seasons in NBA history, No. 1 pick or not. Bennett came back and worked hard in the offseason, getting into better shape and playing in summer league. He chucked up shots with reckless abandon, but feelings were much more positive coming out of 2014’s summer league.

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But then he was traded as a secondary piece in the Kevin Love-Andrew Wiggins deal, and that’s when the movement began that saw him play for four teams in under four seasons while never being a significant developmental piece. In Minnesota, Bennett played nearly 900 minutes, had a 45.8 true-shooting percentage and was among the worst defensive players in the league. He still wasn’t quite as explosive as many scouts expected when he came to the NBA. That led to a buyout of the previously-exercised third year of his contract — the first ever No. 1 pick to not get through his rookie scale deal essentially due to performance.

From there, he went home to Toronto, where he only played 84 minutes on a playoff team, then to Brooklyn, where he posted slightly better but still underwhelming numbers in Kenny Atkinson’s free-wheeling offensive scheme. Bennett never developed enough as a shooter (only making 27 percent of his 3-point attempts this season), never rebounded enough (accumulating just a 20.8 defensive rebounding rate) and never developed defensively (posting a -1.3 DRPM thus far).

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It became time for the NBA to give up on Bennett ever getting to where he needed to be in order to play effective basketball. He’ll now be plying his trade in Turkey for Fenerbahce, where he’ll play with fellow underwhelming top-six picks in Ekpe Udoh and Jan Vesely.

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It would be great if Bennett could turn this thing around, become a legitimate Euroleague star and get back to the NBA. It’s happened before. But at this stage, it seems that NBA front offices have given up on getting much out of Bennett. And not only will the stigma of the Cavaliers overdrafting him at No. 1 stick, but it’ll also speak volumes to people that he wasn’t able to turn himself into an NBA player, with the biggest lesson being to do your homework on a player’s personality and work ethic.

“I had him 10th or 11th (on my board),” one of the above executives said. “It was definitely surprising to most people that he went No. 1, but I talked to a lot of people around the league and felt consensus was fifth to tenth. Typically, that’s still an NBA player. Obviously though, that was wrong.”