The Cavaliers have officially signed second-round pick Emoni Bates to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release.
A former consensus five-star recruit and one of the top high school prospects in the country, Bates saw his stock slip when he averaged 9.7 points per game on .386/.329/.646 shooting as a freshman at Memphis in 2021/22, then was arrested on gun charges in September 2022.
Bates ultimately had his felony charge reduced to a misdemeanor and was sentenced to 18 months of probation. The 6’10” forward had a bounce-back season on the court in 2022/23 after transferring to Eastern Michigan, putting up 19.2 PPG on .405/.330/.782 shooting in 30 games (33.8 MPG). He declared for the draft as an early entrant following his sophomore year and was selected 49th overall by Cleveland.
While he’s no longer viewed as a future NBA star, the former High School Player of the Year still has intriguing upside. He’ll likely begin his professional career by seeing plenty of action for the Cleveland Charge, the Cavaliers’ G League affiliate, as a rookie.
The Cavaliers, who also confirmed the signings of Isaiah Mobley and Craig Porter to two-way deals, have become the second NBA team to fill all three two-way slots, joining the Lakers. The new Collective Bargaining Agreement allows clubs to carry up to three players on two-way contracts instead of just two.
Emoni has two things going for him. Most importantly, he’s got some little dribble moves that can create his shot. If he can do that in the NBA he will have a good bit of opportunity to show he can hit that shot. Can he learn to shoot a good percentage? His corner threes says he can. And he’s with an organization motivated to work with him at a position where they have a real need. Working against him is that he’s a poor defender, isn’t much of a team player, and is so slight that he will surely be bullied. Of course, fans with long memories will recall that all these things were said about another EMU star 50+ years ago. Gervin also was pegged as a bad actor and didn’t begin his pro career in the limelight. Who knows?
The boy can play. Question now is will his moves still work in the NBA?