The Minnesota Timberwolves have developed a solid core of players, but not every draft pick has worked out. One swing they made on Wendell Moore Jr. had a failure to launch, and the versatile wing was just waived and may be out of the NBA entirely.
The Boston Celtics became Minnesota East this summer, filling in the back of their roster with multiple Timberwolves alumni. Josh Minott and Luka Garza got the publicity and will be on the full season roster, but Wendell Moore also joined Boston this summer.
Moore was a do-it-all star at Duke, a Second Team All-ACC honoree and winner of the Julius Erving Award as the nation's best small forward. His lack of athleticism and shooting touch, however, made it an open question of how his game would translate to the NBA. The Timberwolves decided to take the swing on Moore with the 26th pick of the 2022 NBA Draft.
Things didn't work out from the jump in Minnesota; he essentially only made it onto the court in garbage time for his two seasons in the Twin Cities. He averaged a mere 4.2 minutes per game in his 54 appearances. After two years he was tossed into a deal with the Detroit Pistons that saw the Wolves pick up a future second-round pick.
Missing on a first-round pick is always painful, even if the hit rate on picks in the final 5 of the first round are about a 50/50 proposition to turn into a rotation player. The five players drafted immediately after Moore highlight that perfectly: Patrick Baldwin Jr. and TyTy Washington were busts, Nikola Jovic and Peyton Watson are rotation players, and Andrew Nembhard is a strong starter. Minnesota could have obviously done better, but it was a part of the draft littered with mines.
Wendell Moore's career has spiraled
The Detroit Pistons took a closer look at Moore, playing him as a back-end rotation player to see what he could offer. The answer, unfortunately, was not much, as Moore more than doubled his minutes in Detroit but shot just 28.6 percent from deep and cratered offensive lineups when he was on the court.
The Pistons cut him loose last February, and he was scooped up by the tanking Charlotte Hornets for a quick look. He did shoot better in a small sample, hitting 37 percent from deep, but didn't break through to any shocking degree.
That left no guaranteed money for him this summer, and instead, he joined the Boston Celtics on a training camp deal. He made his preseason debut in Boston's second game against the Toronto Raptors. In just nine minutes of playing time he logged the worst plus-minus on the team at -12, scored two points and missed his only 3-pointer. It was a similar showing in his only other appearance.
It was always going to be a longshot to make the Celtics' main roster, and Moore officially fell short when he was waived this week by Boston. He will likely now start the season in the G League with the Celtics' G League affiliate and try to earn his way onto an NBA roster from there.
This may be the end of the line for Moore. Four stops, four failed attempts at establishing an NBA career. Pour one out for a former Wolves player on his way out.