To me, Bennett doesn't have to fit "as a No. 1 pick." He just needs to fit. It would be nice if he eventually became a rich man's Larry Johnson as some predicted, but at the end of the day, having a productive, solid NBA player is good enough for me. He doesn't have to be a star.
I also liked Porter in the lead-up to the draft and still do, but he looked REALLY bad in Summer League. I know that means nothing and I still expect him to be a solid starting player for the Wiz, but there are no sure things. Watch the Bill Simmons/Jalen Rose preview of the Wizards...
http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...rds?src=mobile
...they both said Porter has the most "bust potential" of any rookies in this class. That is just those guys' opinion, of course, but it shows you how one person's "safe pick" is another person's "potential bust."
There is no science to drafting in the NBA and I think Grant's successful Thompson "reach" and what looks like it could be another successful "reach" in Waiters didn't make him think, "now I should go safe." I think it gave him more confidence in what he sees with his own two eyes instead of just going with the crowd.
I'll also say that, in the lead-up to the draft, most people thought Noel would be back around Christmas. That was said to be a distinct possibility. Now, he's out for the year. So, that injury was more severe than was being led on.
Another guard would have made literally no sense. They obviously weren't wild about Porter. Len has his own problems.
Despite his horrid start, I'm not sure they'd do anything differently with a "do-over." Bennett still has plenty of potential and that potential is in playing a different kind of role than Thompson. Even though they technically play the same position, the NBA has become less about conventional positions and more about skillsets and how they fit together.
I still view Bennett as a sort of athletic stretch-4 who should be able to play the 3 in spurts. Thompson is a rugged, hard-nosed 4 who can play the 5 in spurts (more than just spurts, actually).
Maybe we should give it a little more time before we disown the pick. I've never seen the kind of over-the-top reactions to the first 8 games of a player's career. Yeah, he's the No. 1 pick. Yeah, struggling is an understatement so far.
But, the Cavs frontcourt is too crowded right now, resulting in him getting almost no playing time and the whole team is struggling offensively. I'm just not ready to freak out about Bennett yet.