It’s Hard To Believe It’s Been Six Years Of Eamonn Bates In The Country No. 1 middle schooler in the country, three years ago, Bates was envisioned as the sort of ethereal possibility that would Viewed the summer league as a formality. By the time he arrived in Memphis during the fall of 2021, the luster had begun to wear off.
that’s light years away from being First sophomore named Gatorades Boys High School Basketball Player of the Year. Bates’ downfall was partly due to his own early success. Instead of being viewed as a disappointing work-in-progress, he was summarily dismissed as NBA talent.
After a tumultuous few years in which he bounced between several high schools, Memphis and Eastern Michigan, Bates stuck around until the 49th pick in the draft. Bates’ selection is primarily due to his reputation as a high school phenom. at the age of 19, Draft stock of the 6-foot-9 forward Due to high-volume shooting that generated terrible efficiency per possession, a two-year, extremely disappointing collegiate career ensued.,
In summer league play, Bates made a timely appearance to lead Cleveland to the Vegas Summer League championship against Houston. The bulk of his regular season contributions will still come in the G League after signing a two-way deal with the Cavaliers, but Betts will have a bit more rope to pull than he did two weeks ago.
Ironically, the spell that Bates initially had on talent evaluators began to wane in the 2021 EYBL following his retirement from Michigan State, and the reclassification launched him into college ball a year early.
soared to its upper level Pedigree on display between Memphis and Eastern Michigan, such as when he scored 29 consecutive points in a loss to Toledo. But lower mid-major programs have been hurt by Bates’ blank numbers. Has been a theme for Bates. His father, Elgin, built an entire AAU program around Emoni. and established Ypsi Prep as a vehicle to showcase the country’s top prospects. Instead, that basketball silo hindered his development And turned him into a one-dimensional player.
At Memphis, he shot an unbelievable 38 percent from the field. and was eventually benched by Penny Hardaway while the Tigers faltered. Once the dust settled, Bates was the Tigers Fifth leading scorer while completing the team’s second most field goal attempts. While Bates missed time due to injury, the Tigers’ The ship certainly seemed to be righting its offense without tipping over, and they wound up in the NCAA tournament.
After his freshman campaign, Bates transferred to Eastern Michigan, where he doubled his production but shot 40 percent from the field and 64 percent from the charity stripe. Those struggles were partly written off as a product of youth. However, his sub-40 percent shooting in Eastern Michigan is more polarizing. After being pushed out of his comfort zone, he’s flourishing, which is what makes his Summer League ascent so refreshing.
Bates still needs to demonstrate greater flexibility and a diverse portfolio in the G League against better competition before he can be called a success story. When his shot cools down, he shrinks into a shell. Bates lacks a sufficiently diverse scoring toolkit to be a franchise cornerstone, especially in combination with his wiry frame, above-average vertical leap and negative wingspan.
in 48 games against Division I competitionhe earned 65 assists and 118 turnovers. Not much has changed on that front in the G League where Bates is averaging half an assist and 2.2 turnovers per outing. Bates’ extremely poor assist rate is a trait he shares with teammate Cam Whitmore in Monday’s Summer League finale. Whitmore’s assist-to-trade ratio during his lone season This contributed to Villanova’s decline from top prospect to draft pick the next day. In Summer League he has struck a balance, recording a pair of assists and a pair of turnovers every night.
ParticleMay be more capable of working through his playing issues as a mid-first rounder, but tunneling his game beyond heliocentric bucket lord won’t reduce him to a physically overpowered second rounder who set out to prove it deal. If Bates had gone to Michigan State, Tom Izzo would have spent the last two years showing him the advantages of doing the dirty work well, and would have honed his game.
Part of being an uncanny prospect whose scoring strength is Knowing which shots to take takes a basketball IQ. Too often, Bates settles for bad shots until the bartender has to make an executive decision to cut it. At a soaking 190 pounds, Bates relies on lifting it from the outside, projecting as a league-average 3-point shooter.
only 22 percent of Bates’ shots hit the rim during his second year. To put this into perspective, Whitmore finished at the rim 26 percent of the time. And 66 percent of them tried.
When Bates steps up, he’s a potentially lethal microwave scorer, but proving he can fill the cup is just the beginning. Bates’ shot-making The potential is enticing, but it’s far from a sure thing. now, bates Paying it forward, but in the G League, The big test will be how he contributes to the lineup once he calms down. This adjustment will be the difference between Bates having an NBA Summer League flash in the pan or him staying in the NBA rotation.
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