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3 things to know about Emoni Bates, Cavs 2023 NBA Draft pick
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- 3 things to know about Emoni Bates, Cavs 2023 NBA Draft pick
( Editor's note: The Cavs took Bates with the No. 49 pick. Here's what we wrote about him leading up to the draft)
Emoni Bates, a lanky, 6-foot-9, 19-year-old NBA Draft prospect out of Eastern Michigan is among the many players in Thursday's draft who the Cleveland Cavaliers could target at pick No. 49 of the second round.
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After trading their 2023 first rounder to the Indiana Pacers in the deal that brought back Caris LeVert , Ricky Rubio and a second-round pick ( Andrew Nembhard ) last year, the Cavs only have the aforementioned No. 49 pick (via the Golden State Warriors ) unless the higherups opt to swing another trade.
Sam Vecenie of The Athletic reported that the Cavs — along with the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks — have already explored moving up in the draft to improve their odds of finding a needle-moving talent. So, it's not that farfetched the Cavs could move up from No. 49 or simply trade into the first round while keeping their second round selection.
In any case, Bates is a talent who has already been linked to the Cavaliers.
According to Cleveland.com's Chris Fedor , in addition to Kentucky product and Akron native Chris Livingston , "Eastern Michigan's Emoni Bates, once a ballyhooed prep star who started his college career at Memphis before transferring, is also scheduled to work out for Cleveland ahead of the draft."
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So, is Bates going to be the call for Cleveland at No. 49? Will he even fall that far during the draft process, or will the Cavs need to trade up to get him?
Regardless of how it plays out, here are three things to know about the Eastern Michigan product.
Emoni Bates played for Memphis before transferring to Eastern Michigan
Emoni Bates (1) plays against Saint Louis in an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Karen Pulfer Focht)
A high-profile prospect coming out of high school (putting it mildly, more on that later), Bates originally spent a lackluster freshman year at Memphis before blossoming on the court at Eastern Michigan by averaging 19.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists on 41% shooting last season.
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He averaged just 9.7 points per game on 39% shooting in his one season with Memphis under head coach Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway.
But Bates' on-court prowess was not the worst of a tumultuous and short tenure with the Tigers marred in part by a back injury that forced him to miss time.
Emoni Bates was arrested on felony gun charges while at Memphis, pled down to misdemeanor charge
Bates was sentenced in December 2022 to 18 months of probation stemming from his arrest on felony gun charges after he was pulled over in September . He pled down to a misdemeanor gun charge in October.
According to reporting by The Detroit News: " Bates was arrested by the Washtenaw County Sherriff's Department after running a stop sign on the night of Sept. 18. He was arrested on two felony gun charges after deputies searched his car and discovered an unloaded Glock 17C 9-millimeter that wasn't registered to him, and also was missing one of its three serial numbers."
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If Bates completes the 18-month probationary period without further issues, the charge will be expunged, per reporting by The Detroit News.
Any NBA team thinking about drafting Bates will no doubt have to consider his arrest record and whether his past off-the-court issues will weigh on their decision to select him.
Bates is still very young, but as NBA fans have seen repeatedly over the last several months with Memphis Grizzlies star point guard Ja Morant , involvement with firearms can jeopardize the career of even the league's brightest young stars.
Bates will need to put the legal troubles behind him and focus on contributing to his new team if he's going to make an NBA roster.
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Emoni Bates was the No. 1 basketball recruit in the country coming out of high school
A five-star prospect before heading to Memphis, Bates starred at Ypsi Prep Academy in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
His prep basketball career included three MaxPreps All-America selections . As a high school freshman, Bates led Lincoln (also in Ypsilanti, Michigan) to the program's first ever state championship by averaging 28.5 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. For his efforts, he earned MaxPreps Freshman of the Year honors as well as Michigan Division 1 Associated Press Player of the Year.
Needless to say, Bates is no stranger to the spotlight, having that light shined on him from a young age after dominating high school competition. He had a rocky road at the collegiate level, but the talent is clearly there.
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For the Cavs, that might mean Bates ultimately gets selected before they're on the clock at No. 49, assuming other teams across the league are not overly concerned with his arrest record.
Emoni Bates basketball highlights
First, of course, are Bates' highlights stemming from an incredible run of success at the high school level:
From there, he showed flashes at Memphis, but ultimately had a down year with the Tigers:
The hype continued to grow from there, however, when Bates again began to shine with Eastern Michigan, at one point dropping a ludicrous 29 consecutive points against Toledo en route to a 43-point explosion:
Bates has the pedigree as a former No. 1 overall college recruit. He does have some baggage stemming from his time at Memphis, but he's already been linked to Cleveland in the pre-draft process, and many Cavs fans seem to like the prospect of adding Bates to a team that desperately needs more wing depth.
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Whether Cleveland even has the opportunity to take him, however, will need to be revealed on draft night.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Who is Emoni Bates? 3 things to know about 2023 NBA Draft pick
