‘I ain’t see much improvement’: Emoni Bates reacts to social media argument centered around him and Evan Mobley

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Emoni Bates took notice after a user on social media appeared to be unimpressed by footage of his offseason work, with the user pointing to fellow Cavs youngster Evan Mobley as evidence for why offseason footage can’t always be trusted.

The social media user commented on a video of Bates shooting, starting a thread on X (formerly known as Twitter) with another user that turned into a debate.

The first user immediately brought up Mobley, who is still working on developing a consistent 3-point shot in his game.

The user who was seemingly critical of Bates and Mobley finished off the thread with a post that Bates took note of.

Bates liked the post, and it’s possible that he’s looking to use it as motivation going forward in his NBA career.

A second-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, Bates spent a lot of his rookie season with the Cavs in the G League. He did appear in 15 games for Cleveland at the NBA level, averaging 2.7 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game while shooting 30.6 percent from the field and 30.3 percent from beyond the arc.

It’s hard to judge Bates’ play off of those 15 games, as he only averaged 8.9 minutes per game and wasn’t ever a regular part of the team’s rotation.

In the G League, Bates showed some impressive scoring prowess, averaging 19.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game across 17 contests in the regular season. He shot 34.6 percent from beyond the arc in those games.

In 10 Showcase Cup games, Bates was even better, averaging 24.8 points per game on 45.7 percent shooting from the field and 41.2 percent shooting from 3-point range. Those numbers certainly make him an intriguing prospect going forward.

Bates is a lanky wing player that is still just 20 years old and could develop into a rotation piece in the future.

Once a highly touted prospect in high school, Bates saw his draft stock dip after he struggled in college at the University of Memphis as a freshman. However, he transferred to Eastern Michigan University and averaged 19.2 points per game as a sophomore.

If Bates keeps improving his game, it’s possible he’ll get a chance to crack the Cavs rotation next season. The 2023 second-round pick is a restricted free agent this offseason after spending the 2023-24 season on a two-way contract.