Meet Emoni Bates: The 15 Year Old Who Will Define the Future of the NBA
Emoni Bates will likely become the face of the next class of prep-to-pro superstars in the NBA and the top prospect in the best draft class since 2003
*Prep-to-pro player — a player who goes straight to the NBA from high school
*One-and-done player — a player who spends one season at college before heading to the NBA
Standing at about 6 feet, 9 inches tall, with a slender build and impeccable skill, the comparisons to Kevin Durant are inescapable for Emoni Bates, a top high school basketball prospect who is just 15 years old. Like Durant, Bates can hit threes from over 25 feet away as easily as he can penetrate defenses to get to the paint. His talent is undeniable, as he is already being touted as “the best prospect since LeBron James” and, of course, “the next Kevin Durant.”
We’ve seen this story before. Every few seasons, a new face appears in high school basketball as the “next big thing” or the “best prospect since _____.” Names like Michael Porter Jr., Andrew Wiggins, Marvin Bagley, and R.J. Barrett all come to mind. It hasn’t even been 3 years since Porter Jr. was being billed as the next Durant-like player in the NBA.
But what separates Bates from the aforementioned names is not just his abilities, but also the draft class he is in (the 2022 draft class). Bates has consistently been called one of the top prospects ever by many scouts, and he has the chance to be the face of the greatest draft class since 2003 — a draft class featuring LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and Carmelo Anthony.
To understand why Bates is so important as a draft prospect, it’s important to understand the value of the 2022 Draft. 2022 is seen as the first season in which players will be able to be drafted straight out of high school again, and Bates is seen as the crown jewel of the draft.
The 2022 Draft has been dubbed as the “Double Draft” because it may feature the top one-and-done prospects from 2021 and the top high school prospects from 2022 in the same draft. The draft is expected to be the best in recent history, and many teams have positioned themselves to have multiple first round picks in 2022 because of this.
With his skillset, physical gifts, and ferocious competitive nature, Bates is a near perfect prospect for the modern NBA. He can play on or off the ball, score at all three levels, and create for himself and his teammates. With three-point shooting, driving, shot blocking, rebounding, and ball-handling abilities, Bates can do it all. It should come as no surprise that Bates is considered to be the best freshman prospect ever by some scouts.
He receives lots of coverage within the high school basketball community and for good reason. This includes averaging 32.3 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists at the Peach Jam showcase, where many former high school phenoms have showcased their abilities. And none of them have impressed scouts more than Bates, who may be the best player in high school basketball, despite not having turned 16 yet.
Earlier this year, when Bates faced off against LeBron James Jr., who is probably the most hyped and well-known player in high school basketball, he scored 43 points and 11 rebounds in a loss. After the game, James congratulated Bates on his incredible performance, and this moment was even seen as a “passing of the torch” from the last great prep-to-pro player to the next great prep-to-pro player by some optimists.
It seems almost inevitable that Bates will be a prep-to-pro draft pick and go 1st overall in 2022. However, Bates can be considered “under-recruited” by the top college basketball programs. In fact, he’s only been offered by three schools, and two of the schools are in his native Michigan.
There is also no guarantee that 2022 will be the year that 18 year olds can enter the draft again. In the scenario that 2023 is chosen as the year for the return of prep-to-pro players, then Bates will no longer be the face of the new movement in the NBA.
Instead, Bates may become the last of a dying breed — a top prospect forced to attend college for one season just to be eligible for the NBA Draft. It may even increase his draft stock — just look at how much Zion Williamson’s draft stock rose after his freshman season at Duke — but it would ultimately alter the legacy Bates is already building for himself.
If everything goes to plan for Emoni Bates and the NBA, then he will be the face of a new generation of NBA players in 2022. If not, we may see a name such as LeBron James Jr. being mentioned as the face of the new prep-to-pro generation. No matter what happens, Bates can change the NBA, either as the next great prep-to-pro star, or the last top prospect that was forced to be one-and-done in college.
Don’t be surprised if, on Draft Night 2022, Adam Silver calls Bates’ name to begin the draft or if in 20 years, we are mentioning Bates among the all-time great players in the NBA.
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