Chicago Bulls Profile: E’Twaun Moore

By Jeremy Karll | Aug 30, 2015

The Chicago Bulls are set to start the season on October 27 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, they still have training camp and a preseason slate of games before the season gets underway, so now is a great time to learn more about the players that are going to be on the Bulls roster this year. Here is a look at the third Bulls profile: fifth-year guard E’Twaun Moore.

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E’Twaun Moore is currently listed as the third string shooting guard for the Chicago Bulls this year, according to ESPN.com, but should see more minutes this year than what the depth chart suggests.

NBA Career: 248 GP, 16.2 MPG, 5.4 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 1.6 APG, 41.1 FG%

Moore has had the same reputation since he came out of Purdue. He’s made a name for himself due to his hard-nosed defense. However, he is very limited on offense, but takes care of the ball. Moore isn’t a real threat to shoot the three or anywhere on the court, as he’s only shot 41.1 percent from the field and 34.9 percent from behind the arc during his four-year career.

Moore was drafted with the 55th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics, where he spent only his rookie year. He only appeared in 38 games with the Celtics before signing with the Orlando Magic the following season.

During his two-year stint in Orlando, Moore played in 154 games and started 24 of them. He did exactly what everyone expected from him, proving he could be a solid bench player. He was given 20.7 minutes off the bench for Orlando and put up a respectable state line: 7.1 points per game, 2.0 rebounds per game and 2.1 assists per game.

He’s not the type of player you rely on offense, but he’s capable of coming off the bench as a defensive specialist and is someone who can give you a little offense without turning the ball over a lot. That mold fit perfectly into Tom Thibodeau’s system and the Bulls signed Moore to a two-year deal last season.

2014-15 Season: 56 GP, 9 MPG, 2.7 PPG, 0.8 RPG, 0.6 APG, 44.6 FG%

It didn’t seem like Moore played a lot for the Bulls last year, but he appeared in well over half their games. He didn’t see a lot of time on the court during his 56 games though, but that was mostly due to Thibodeau relying more on Kirk Hinrich in the defensive specialist role coming off the bench. Moore wasn’t able to cement a spot in the Bulls rotation last year for more than a couple of games at a time, and it showed in the playoffs as he only saw nine minutes all postseason.

Moore impressed a lot of Bulls fans last year despite the limited amount of playing time. He was smart with the ball and shot a career-high 44.6 percent from the field. On defense he was as advertised; he played tough defense on the wing and was able to give the starters rest without being a liability.

He didn’t have many moments that stood out last season, but Bulls fans won’t forget about the game-winning three he hit against the Oklahoma City Thunder in early March. That was arguably Moore’s best game of his career and he topped it off with arguably the biggest shot of his career. Moore scored a career-high 19 points on 9-10 shooting that game and added four rebounds, two steals and a block in 22 minutes off the bench.

That game gave Moore and the coaching staff a lot of confidence as he played 20+ minutes in four of the next six games before falling out of the rotation once again to finish the season.

Expectations for 2015-16

With new head coach Fred Hoiberg, I think Moore will see increased playing time. The main thing holding Moore back is Kirk Hinrich, but I think Hoiberg will opt towards Moore instead of Hinrich. I expect him and Doug McDermott to split the majority of Hinrich’s minutes he got last season. Thibodeau was a big believer in Hinrich because of how tough he played defense, but he’s getting older and his game is starting to quickly decline.

Last season, Hinrich had an offensive rating of 95 according to Basketball-Reference, the lowest of his career, while Moore had a rating of 105, the highest of his career. Hinrich did have a better defensive rating last season, but in a lesser margin (108-106). Moore is the younger guard and didn’t deal with injuries last season with the Bulls, it makes sense for the Bulls to give him a bigger role this season.

The Bulls are still one of the deepest teams in the league and if McDermott finds his shot in his second season, Moore may see less minutes than expected. I think he’ll be used as a defensive specialist guard coming off the bench; the same role Hinrich had last year and average around 20 minutes per game. No matter what, he’ll be behind Aaron Brooks and Tony Snell on the depth chart, but will see increased minutes if the injuries pile up again.

What To Watch For

E’Twaun Moore has played four seasons in the NBA now, cementing what type of player he is going to be. He’s never going to be an NBA starter for a team, probably not even a team’s sixth man, but he is a solid rotation player to have that gives you quality minutes off the bench.

The one thing that is missing from Moore’s game is a jumper. He has never been considered a huge scoring threat in the NBA and that is because he has barely shot over 40 percent from the field during his NBA career. The Bulls don’t need him to be a 15-point scorer every night. They just need him to play tough defense.

However, if Moore can add a mid-range or three-point shot to his offensive arsenal he would see a lot more minutes off the bench and could compete with Brooks for the backup point guard position later in the year. He’s coming off the best shooting year of his career and needs to continue building off that.

The start of the season will give Bulls fans a good sign of how much playing time Moore will get this year. No one is quite sure what the rotation will look like under Hoiberg, but if he chooses Moore over Hinrich early in the season, then he’ll have to prove himself right away so he doesn’t lose his role to the 12-year veteran.

Next: Chicago Bulls profile: Cameron Bairstow

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