The Orlando Magic, according to the Orlando Sentinel, have agreed to sign guard E’Twaun Moore to a two-year deal.

In reading that, Moore’s name isn’t one that jumps out of the page at you. But maybe there is some up-side to the deal.

First it starts as a numbers game.

Before bringing in Moore, the Magic have 16 players listed on its roster. Only four of those players—Jameer Nelson, Arron Afflalo, J.J. Redick and Ish Smith—are guards. The team could use some extra depth at either of the guard positions.

Since college he’s played mostly as a two-guard but he did spend some time in blowouts with the Boston Celtics last year playing a little bit of point guard. The Magic will give him a shot at playing both positions and his flexibility coming off the bench will help his case.

Also Moore is only 23-years-old and has been in the league for only one season. He’s a young player that still has time to develop. He didn’t see many minutes with the Celtics in his rookie season but the 2012-13 Magic season will likely be a league-wide try-out for a lot of guys to see if they can play in the NBA.

What may be hidden behind Moore’s 8.7 minutes per game and 2.9 points per game as a rookie and his second-round draft pick status may suggest, Moore was a pretty accomplished college player at a pretty big basketball school.

Moore was a four-year player at Purdue University. There he became the school’s third highest scorer (2,136) and finished first in three-pointers made (243), games (140), games started (137), minutes played (4,517) and wins (107). He led the Boilermakers in scoring his first three years on the team and was a AP honorable mention All-American.

In the summer league in July Moore led the Boston Celtics squad in points per game.

He wasn’t a high pick or expected to do much for Boston last year but people have started to wonder how high his ceiling is.

Moore can shoot the ball—something Orlando teams in recent years loved to do—and in college he was able to score in a variety of ways and spots on the floor. But in an article for ESPN Boston Chris Forsberg wrote that Moore was fearless and “unflappable”, a trait that endeared him to the Boston front office.

The Orlando Magic will be a proving ground for young players this season. And with what Moore did this summer as well as his college resume, he does seem like a good player to give a bigger opportunity to and take a chance on.

Photo Credit.
AP Photo/Amy Sancetta