The best and worst-case scenarios for Cavs’ Emoni Bates draft selection

Best-case scenario for Bates with Cavs: He’s a lethal scorer, either as a starting wing or go-to bench guy

Bates could be playing most of his meaningful minutes with the Cleveland Charge next season as a rookie. He could very well be on a two-way contract going into next year.

Having said that, down the road or even in his rookie season, provided he has more developmental reps, his shot-making could give Cleveland a sizable lift.

He was such a big-name recruit not too long ago, and then as pointed out by ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, Bates was the first high school sophomore to be named Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

It’s been a bumpy road since for Bates, but the talent is there for him to be a multifaceted scorer at the NBA level. In what would be a best-case scenario, he’d cash in on his shot-making potential, and prove to give Cleveland isolation scoring pop.

Long-term, it’s clear that Bates has to get stronger to be able to hold up on both ends, and he had some injury issues at the collegiate level. If he can progress next season there and in the near future, though, he has the chance to be a high-end starter or bench microwave scorer.

He has shown tons of ability to create for himself off the bounce, especially with a high release, and while he was streaky in college, Bates has flashed deep range and with better spacing, could maybe develop into a knockdown guy off the catch. A future 18 or so per game scorer, in a best-case scenario is not completely out of the cards for Bates, if he can find his way in the NBA.

One does have to acknowledge that he has to demonstrate he can be more competent fitting in the flow of offense as more of an off-ball player and pass it more, too. Those objectively are big ifs with Bates.