Cavaliers' Emoni Bates Has Strong Season Debut Following Injury

Cleveland Cavaliers' Emoni Bates scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds in his season debut in the G League.

Mar 24, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Emoni Bates (21) drives to the basket against the Miami Heat during the second half at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Cavaliers have had a depth issue at the forward position for the last two seasons.

To address this, the Wine and Gold drafted Emoni Bates in the second round of the 2023 Draft, seeing the tremendous upside he could provide to the team.

The rookie had some positive moments in the G League last year, but he suffered an injury leading up to this season, which forced him to miss the start of the season following knee surgery.

Dec 21, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Emoni Bates (21) shoots as New Orleans Pelicans guard Jordan Hawkins (24) defends in the fourth quarter at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images / David Richard-Imagn Images

Bates, on a two-way contract with the Cavaliers, finally made his season debut Saturday night in a G League appearance with the Cleveland Charge. He played 23.5 minutes (down 10 minutes from last season) and filled up the box score, making a solid impact on the floor.

The 20-year-old finished with 10 points while shooting 33.3 percent (4-for-12) from the floor and 22.2 percent from behind the arc. Bates also grabbed 5.0 boards, which is in line with his average last season.

No, the shooting percentages don't look great, but the shots he was making were typical of what we're used to seeing from Bates.

Coming off surgery, we can't just look at the box score.

Bates was creating his own shot and connecting on catch-and-shoot threes. At some point, those will start falling. It's just nice to see him moving well and being back on the floor right now.

Once his playing time increases and Bates gets more comfortable on the floor, his averages will likely even out from what he produced last year.

The young forward still has much to prove to be an option for Kenny Atkinson and the coaching staff in the Cavaliers rotation. However, getting healthy and returning to the court is a step in the right direction for Bates.