Philadelphia 76ers: How would E’Twaun Moore fit on Brett Brown’s squad?

While a proposed Jahlil Okafor- New Orleans Pelicans trade ultimately fell through, how would E’twaun Moore have fit with the Philadelphia 76ers?

In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a lot to unpack from The Ringer‘s recent expose on Philadelphia 76ers GM Bryan Colangelo‘s alleged use of a quintet of secret Twitter accounts to keep tabs on his son’s basketball team, publicly praise his decisions, and talk trash on his own team’s players.

Need a refresher? Check here, there are about half a dozen articles dissecting various sections of the story in detail.

Though Colangelo’s (alleged) burner Twitter accounts mad a lot of outlandish comments, from calling Joel Embiid a baby, to defending the legitimately large collars on his shirts, and could very well effect have huge negative implications going into the draft and free agency, one comment that deserves to be examined further is a failed trade that would have shipped Jahlil Okafor to New Orleans all the way back in 2017.

According to the tweets, the Sixers were in talks to potentially ship Okafor, the third overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, to the Pelicans for the rights to shooting guard E’Twaun Moore and a protected first-round pick, and apparently, discussions got pretty far along.

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While the deal ultimately didn’t go through, because Okafor allegedly failed his physical, this would have been a pretty substantial move, and could very well have made a much greater impact on the team’s future than the deal that was ultimately struck to get Big Jah out of town.

But which deal would have been better longterm?

Let’s look at Moore as a player, and see if he could have had a greater impact on the 76ers rosters than they player they ultimately received Trevor Booker.

Get to know E’Twaun Moore

After spending four years at Purdue University, where he became only the third player in Big Ten history to record at least 2000 points, 500 rebounds, and 400 assists over his career, Moore took his talents to the NBA and was selected 55th overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2011 NBA Draft.

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Though he didn’t make the team as a rookie, spending the entire season in the then-D-League, Moore eventually got the call up to play for the Celtics on Christmas Day.

But their time together would be short-lived.

Following only 38 appearances with the team, Moore was shipped to the Rockets in a three-team deal and was waived shortly their after.

Though he would eventually sign with the Orlando Magic, and appear in 154 for the team, Moore became somewhat of a journeyman over his next four seasons in the league, splitting his time between the Magic and the Chicago Bulls, before eventually finding a home in New Orleans.

After an incredibly promising 2015-2016 season, where Moore knocked down an incredible 45.2 percent of his 3-point shots in 22 starts, the Pelicans targeted Moore as a versatile scorer to add to their bench and offered the then-27 year old a four-year contract worth $34 million.

But according to the Colangelo’s alleged Twitter accounts, the team did not consider Moore untouchable.

With a burning desire to acquire a backcourt partner to pair with Anthony Davis in the paint, Okafor seemed like a potential steal after a rough stint with the 76ers and that upside alone made Moore expendable.

While the deal ultimately didn’t go down, the 76ers and the Pelicans were connected for a time in March of 2017, with Okafor actually sitting out a pair of games in February just in case the deal went down.

Though most of the reports around the situation had the 76ers either taking on the contract of Alexis Ajinca and a first round pick, or Tyreke Evans, a protected first-round pick, and a future second-round pick for Okafor, it actually makes a lot of sense that Colangelo and company would specifically look into adding Moore to their roster.

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The combo guard the Philadelphia 76ers needed?

After losing Jerryd Bayless for the season to a wrist injury after only three games, the 76ers were actively looking for a three-point shooting combo guard with the ability to eventually play both off an on the ball alongside Ben Simmons.

Moore fits that bill.

While he’d only started 46 of a possible 307 games prior to the 2016 NBA season, Moore had effectively developed into one of the league’s best bench scorers and excelled at playing either off or on the ball as a do it all combo guard.

And over the last year, he’s become a legitimate force on the wings.

After remaining in New Orleans, and finished out the 2016-2017 NBA season as a spot starter, Moore started 80 of a possible 82 games for the Pelicans 2017-2018 and became an essential part of the team’s eventual playoff roster.

Playing a role similar to that of J.J. Redick in Philly, Moore spent much of his time camped out on the wings, waiting for a timely dime from one of the team’s two point guards, Rajon Rondo and ex-Sixer Jrue Holiday. Though he finished out the season fourth in scoring on the team with 12.5 points per game, as far cry from Davis’ 30.1, Moore lead the team with a 42.5 three-point shooting percentage, the 12th best mark of any player in the league while recording a .34 offensive Real Plus-Minus, the 16th best mark in the league.

While the Pelicans do field a pretty strange scheme, starting three guards, a combo forward, and Davis in the middle following Boogie Cousins‘ season-ending injury, it’s totally within the realm of possibility that Moore could have been a major boon for the 76ers on the wing, and been a nice complement to both Simmons and Redick.

Who knows, if he would have blown up over his abbreviated stretch with the team in the back half of the season, maybe Colangelo wouldn’t have had to trade away a premium pick move up to select another combo guard in Markelle Fultz, and instead selected a player like Jayson Tatum at three.

The possibilities are honestly endless.

But regardless of whether or not Moore would have developed into a starting caliber guard on the 76ers squad, or helped to serve as a quality sixth man, it’s clear that he would have had a more pronounced impact on the team than the player the 76ers ultimately traded Okafor for, Trevor Booker.

Unlike Moore, who would have come to Philly with three and a half seasons left on his contract, Booker was essentially a lame duck entering his abbreviated stretch with the team and seemed like an unlikely fit moving forward. Without a solid three-point shot, Booker struggled to find a role with the team over his 33 game stretch and was ultimately waived to make room for the eventual addition of Marco Belinelli.

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Now one can argue that Belinelli was an essential part of Philly’s success down the stretch, as he played better than anyone could have imagined for a midseason acquisition, but adding a player with E’Twaun Moore’s skillset on a very value conscious $34 million deal moving forward, especially as the team attempts to lure a top-flight player like LeBron James into town, would have been steal for Jahlil Okafor both in 2017, and for the forseeable future.