BROOKLYN, Ohio — With their first-round pick now the property of the Utah Jazz following the Donovan Mitchell trade, the Cavaliers did not make a 2023 NBA Draft selection until the second round at No. 49 overall. Despite this, the team may have gotten a player with a great deal of upside.
Cleveland chose Eastern Michigan swingman Emoni Bates during Thursday night's draft in Brooklyn, New York. The 6-foot-10, 170-pound 19-year-old has been on quite the basketball journey, and the term "peaks and valleys" doesn't quite do it justice.
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Bates burst on the scene at Lincoln High School in Ypsilanti, Michigan, helping the Railsplitters win the state championship as a freshman before becoming the first sophomore ever to earn Gatorade National Player of the Year honors. He eventually transferred to Ypsi Prep Academy (a school created by his father) and was viewed as a consensus five-star prospect and almost certain 2022 lottery pick.
Completing enough classes to graduate high school after only three years, Bates reneged on an earlier commitment to Michigan State to instead play for Penny Hardaway at Memphis. Expectations were high, but injuries and struggles to adapt to the system took their toll, and the teen averaged a disappointing 9.7 points and 3.3 rebounds across 18 games. Even though the Tigers made the NCAA Tournament, Bates' draft stock collapse, and he chose to transfer back home to EMU.
His sophomore season began with controversy after a guilty plea for a misdemeanor weapons charge, but eventually, Bates recovered on the court to show scouts why he had previously been so highly touted. A third-team All-MAC selection, he averaged an impressive 19.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest, although he only shot 40.5% from the field and 33.0% from 3-point range.
While Bates certainly won't be expected to crack the Cavs' starting five, he could see himself competing for time off the bench, especially after the unit failed to perform in the club's five-game playoff series loss to the New York Knicks. Among current Cleveland wings, former first-round pick Isaac Okoro averaged only 6.4 points per game last season, while Caris LeVert is a free agent and may or may not return.