Getting to Know E’Twaun Moore
The Chicago Bulls will have a hometown point guard available to play this season, and this isn’t about Derrick Rose.
On Thursday, the Bulls officially signed East Chicago, Ind., native E’Twaun Moore. He is the fourth point guard on the roster behind Aaron Brooks, Kirk Hinrich and Rose, but also has the ability to move over and play shooting guard.
Moore isn’t a very well-known player, and that could be for several reasons, but that’s the point. While I may have heard about him prior to his signing with Chicago, I honestly can’t say I knew much about him before. Whether his stay in the Windy City is an extended one or a brief one, it’s time we get to know E’Twaun Moore.
The newest Bull resides from East Chicago, Ind., where he was born and raised by his parents, Edna and Ezell Sr., with two older siblings, Ezell Jr. and Ekeisha.
Much like Chicago, East Chicago is a place plagued by gangs and violence, but E’Twaun avoided all of that with discipline and support from his parents. In fact, he even has the mother and father’s names tattooed on his biceps (see photo at the top).
Rather than give in to the danger that surrounded him and his family, Moore turned to the basketball court, where he quickly found success.
Before even entering high school, Moore already found himself on the varsity basketball team at East Chicago Central High School after then-head coach Bobby Miles asked the youngster to join the team for a Las Vegas tournament. He remained on the varsity team his freshman year, and he eventually helped lead Cardinals to a 2007 4A state title with averages of 21.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.
Moore continued his basketball career at Purdue University from 2007-2011. As a Boilermaker, the 6-foot-4 guard appeared in a total of 140 games, nine of which were NCAA Tournament games. He averaged double figures for points from the get-go starting at 12.9 points his freshman season and finishing at 18.0 points in his senior year. He also scored the second most points as a freshman with 437 points, and is only one of 47 men’s basketball players to have scored 1,000 points at Purdue.
Following his collegiate career, Moore was taken in the second round of the 2011 NBA Draft. The Boston Celtics selected him with the 55th overall pick, which reunited him with Purdue teammate and 27th overall pick, JaJuan Johnson. It’s also the reason why he has been wearing the No. 55 since entering the league.
In his rookie season, Moore didn’t see much playing time. He only appeared in 38 games and totaled 110 points in 331 minutes. Nine of those games were in postseason, though; however, only five of his points came in the playoffs.
That season was the only one Moore spent sporting Celtics green, as he was traded to the Orlando Magic on July 20, 2012 as part of a three-team trade. He was shipped off to Florida to be the Orlando Magic’s newest combo guard, where he spent the past two seasons. In that time, Moore averaged 7.1 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 20.7 minutes while shooting 41.0 percent from the field and 34.6 percent on threes. There certainly isn’t anything spectacular about those numbers; however, it does reveal Moore’s ability to make the most out of his playing time.
With Rose returning (again) and Hinrich staying — not to mention Brooks is there too — it’s doubtful Moore will receive any consistent minutes, which may pose the question, “What’s the point of signing him?”
I thought just that when I heard about his signing, but, after giving it more thought, I’ve realized the Bulls made the right move by picking up another guard.
It’s no secret Rose has had his share of injury problems. They’ve only been on the minds of Chicago fans for what, three years now? And everyone — including me, who thinks so highly of him — knows Hinrich is old and fragile at this stage of his career. With that being said, some insurance would definitely be of great. Not only that, but Moore’s ability to play either guard position gives Tom Thibodeau more flexibility with backcourt lineups, as he’s shown a preference to have two ballhandlers playing alongside each other.