The Indiana Pacers signed Ben Moore to a partially guaranteed, one-year deal according to Scott Agness of the Athletic.
Ben Moore is sticking around with the Indiana Pacers for another season. After only playing nine minutes last season that was no sure thing, but the former Southern Methodist University player showed why Kevin Pritchard and the organization wants him around.
The Athletic’s Scott Agness first reported the news.
As Tony East detailed in our season reviews, Moore has a motor that will impress Nate McMillan, but we know little about what he really can do in the NBA thanks to those limited minutes. He’s shown he is capable of making the right plays, but nine minutes is hardly enough to build a case off of.
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Moore was seen as a defensive stopper coming out of SMU, but surely what the Pacers see in him comes from his time in the G-League with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. It isn’t his averages of 11.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists or 1 steal a game as much as his efficiency.
His 63.7 True Shooting percentage in Fort Wayne would rank 11th if he put up the same mark in the NBA. Obviously, it won’t be easy to get his shot to go down in the NBA, but that shows he knows when and where to make the most of his scoring opportunities.
Moore did that with a 16.4 usage rating, more evidence he can come off the Pacers bench and fit into the lineup without needing the ball in his hands often.
The last time we saw Moore on the court was in the Las Vegas Summer League with the Pacers. Moore averaged 6.6 points on 69 (nice) percent shooting while averaging 2.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 2 steals in 19.2 minutes a game.
Another detail we are missing about his real right now is exactly how much it is for. If the partial guarantee on Moore’s deal is $50k or less, the Pacers can send him down for development time with the Mad Ants this season as an affiliate player. If it’s more than $50k, then he is full time with the Pacers.
We’ll have to wait and see exactly what the Pacers have planned for Moore, but they must hope he can bring that consistency and efficiency from the G-League tot he NBA.