NBA Draft: Analyzing Emoni Bates’ subpar pro day measurements

Collegiate pro day and NBA Draft Combine measurements are far from the only factor in determining the value and potential of a basketball player, but they do matter, especially in this most recent case of Emoni Bates where nearly every measurement underwhelms. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony gives us a list of official measurements for Emoni Bates from Memphis’ preseason pro day:

The most glaring numbers are his height and wingspan, which come in at 6-9 and 6-7.25, respectively. Not only would that give him a negative wingspan, but it would also give him the largest disparity in height and wingspan of any player this century.

The good news is that “roster height” likely refers to his height with shoes on, meaning that Bates’ wingspan, while still potentially negative, would fall much closer to average. With his height and guard skills Bates will almost always see defenders much shorter than him, meaning that even with a slightly shorter wingspan he should have no problems getting his shot off consistently with a proper release point.

With hand width and length of 8.25 inches, Bates would have clocked in third from last of all players at the 2021 NBA Draft Combine. That would have put him behind players like Davion Mitchell and Carlik Jones. Whether or not this actually affects his ball control—dribbling, passing, shooting—should be fairly obvious when he faces the more stout competition on Memphis’ schedule this year. Again, hand size is more valuable when evaluating the upper end. Players on the lower end almost always find ways around it.