Cavs news and links for Wednesday, August 7.
We’ve made it to Wednesday. Here’s your Cleveland Cavaliers news and links of the day.
Emoni Bates remains an intriguing prospect. There aren’t many people in the world that have his size and lethal shooting. But the same questions remain about his game a year into his career. This was seen last month in Las Vegas Summer League.
Bates showed how devastating he can be when he moves off ball. The quick trigger and limitless range make him tough to guard when he purposefully moves away from the play. Even this quick move off the flare screen buys him enough daylight to bury the three.
The three-point shot opens up space for him in other ways. This is an area he’s progressively improved on since his rookie season, but there’s still room to get better. His defender can’t go under the screen which opens up drives like this.
Bates has continually improved as a rebounder which gives him another skill to be useful at. Being able to push in transition is a big advantage because defenders have to pick him up very early due to his range. This creates additional space to open up passes like this.
The concerns are still present. Bates’s poor on-ball defense isn’t the main issue. There’s room for good shooters who can’t lock down their opponent. But you can’t struggle to defend your matchup and also be this much of a liability away from the play.
Bates falls asleep off-ball far too often. This makes it easy for opponents to get open looks without much effort. Simple back cuts like this happen way too often and are emblematic of some of his larger issues.
Even when he is engaged, he’s often a step slow to help or recover away from the play.
There’s still concerns about how much he can do on ball offensively as well. The handle is solid, but he hasn’t consistently shown that he can create separation in isolation. This is a deficiency that could be worked around by continuing to excel off-ball.
You can always find room for shooting on the court. But Bates needs to use his shooting to amplify his other skills while also cleaning up the defense. How fast he can do those things will determine when he’s able to become a rotation player. What he needs to do to get there is apparent.
Lacey, known as Slammin’ Sam, was a 6’10” center who played 14 years in the league. His final campaign came with the Cavs in the 1982-83 season.
Lacey’s stint with the Cavs was in the midst of their most hopeless time. The team steadily declined from the Miracle of Richfield team in 1976. Their lowest came a year before Lacey’s arrival where they tied a franchise-worst record of 15-67.
Lacey’s presence played a part in the Cavs winning eight more games that season. His season-high was 16 points in a one-point win over Isiah Thomas’s Detroit Pistons. This was a season prior to Detroit’s run of nine-straight playoff appearances which included two Finals victories.
Lacey ranks 224th in career points with the Cavs with 253.
