AMHERST, NY-E’Twaun Moore signed with the Orlando Magic today after recently being traded by the Boston Celtics as part of the deal that brought Courtney Lee to Boston. Moore was drafted by the Celtics last season from Purdue along with his teammate Jajuan Johnson. Moore is a 6’4 shooting guard who also has the versatility to play point guard as well.
Moore was never really going to get much of an opportunity to play here once he was drafted. Rajon Rondo occupied almost all of the available point guard minutes and there were too many other guards to overtake at the shooting guard position. If he had made the team this year, he would have been in a similar conundrum. The only meaningful minutes head coach Doc Rivers would have given him were if someone in the rotation were injured and needed an extended break on injury reserve.
It is good to see Moore re-surface so quickly after being waived by the Houston Rockets earlier this month. Moore goes to a Magic team that is right in the middle of a huge rebuilding process. After the Dwight Howard trade, Orlando clearly is one of the worst teams in the league, so Moore definitely should at least have the opportunity to play more minutes than he would have with the Celtics. Aaron Afflalo, JJ Reddick, and Jameer Nelson would appear to be locks in their rotation, but after that, it is anybody’s game. Moore can definitely help them in a reserve role for about 10-15 minutes per game. If you remember correctly, the Orlando game last season was his big game of the year, helping the Celtics make a miraculous comeback to defeat the Magic. He hit a number of 3’s and provided the green a huge lift.
Moore might never be a star or a true impact player in this league, but he can certainly hang around and make an NBA roster as a player at the bottom of the depth chart. He just needs to keep improving and show up each day with the same attitude and energy he gave the Celtics last season.
Rob Lunder covers the Boston Celtics for Rant Sports. For all Celtics news, check out the Boston Celtics homepage on Rant Sports.
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