3 things Emoni Bates has shown on Cavs Summer League squad

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ Summer League run has been phenomenal in Las Vegas. They are 3-0, and are one of five teams that are undefeated. The Summer Cavaliers were also the first team to have won three games, and are now the best team in the Summer League, statistically.

Also, the Cavaliers have the best point differential at plus-16.7, while the Brooklyn Nets (2-1) are second in that metric, at plus-11.7. As of now, it seems the Cavaliers have near the best odds to win the whole Summer League Tournament. The Cavaliers play against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday, and that will be their last game before the tournament starts.

One of the most exciting players in the whole Summer League is Emoni Bates. Bates was a five-star recruit coming out of high school, and had lofty expectations when he was going to come into the league.

Unfortunately for his sake, Bates did not reach those expectations in college, as he fell to the 49th pick in the second round. The Cavaliers liked what they saw from Bates, though, so they gave him an opportunity with a two-way contract.

On Monday night, the Cavaliers faced off against the Memphis Grizzlies, and Cleveland won 100-77. Bates was a key factor in that game, as he dropped 21 points, to go with four rebounds. He also shot seven-of-11 from the field, as well as five-of-eight from three-point range.

Bates has been known to be a shoot-first player, as his playmaking abilities are not great by any means. Bates averaged 1.4 assists in Eastern Michigan, but also averaged 2.5 turnovers per game, so he had a negative assist-to-turnover ratio.

He was inconsistent in his collegiate career, but to his credit, he’s shown flashes in the Summer League, and has demonstrated that someday he could be an All-Star-level talent.

There are many things that Bates has shown for the Cavs in Summer League so far, so let’s take a closer look at a few that have jumped out.

We’ll begin with his defensive play.