E'Twaun Moore and Draymond Green Took Different Routes, But Both Making NBA Impact

A casual NBA and college basketball fan has known who Draymond Green is for a few years now, with his popularity being sparked by the posting of a 67-15 record and NBA Title that the Golden State Warriors won last year. E'twaun Moore, however, is a lesser known name among casual fans trying to break into the world of common names among professional fans.

With both E'Twaun and Draymond being four year guys coming out of college, they were both essentially punished for their age as seniors by being second round NBA draft picks. Draymond was drafted by the Warriors, while E'Twaun was drafted by the same team who drafted his college running mate, JaJuan Johnson in the Boston Celtics.

Outside of being second round picks, they have had very different routes to the current spot in their NBA journeys. E'Twaun was drafted in the late second round and essentially expected to be a bench warmer who contributed in one sided games, one way or the other. Draymond, however, was drafted at the beginning of the second round and had more expectation to contribute to a team that believed even years ago that they were heading in a very positive direction.

Draymond has been fortunate enough to be in a very stable situation in the Bay Area, surrounded by incredible talent and being a major cog in the machine that is the Golden State Warriors record setting team. E'Twaun, rather, has had a more journeyman's experience in the league, starting with the Celtics before going to the Orlando Magic and eventually landing on his current team, the Chicago Bulls.

During his time in the NBA, Draymond has become far and away one of the most complete players in the league. Just recently on February 3rd, he posted his league leading 10th triple double in a win against the Washington Wizards. He is the piece of the puzzle that allows the Warriors to play small ball, with him at the 5. He is one of the 3 most versatile players in the entire league, right up there with guys like LeBron and Kevin Durant in terms of versatility on the court.

On the fairly obvious title favorite, Draymond Green definitely appears to be one of the most important pieces of the puzzle, if not the most important. He's certainly the leader for Most Improved Player, and while everyone is being dazzled by his teammate Steph Curry's ability, Green has received some quiet chatter as maybe an MVP candidate for the 2015-2016 campaign.

As was mentioned, E'Twaun took a totally different path to his current position. Coming out of Purdue, it was hard to say what he would be at the next level. Was he an NBA point guard? Was he more of a shooting guard? What exactly was this 6'5" combo guard? Without putting a position on him, the Chicago Bulls have certainly made him one thing for their franchise: valuable. While primarily coming off the bench this season, Moore provided incredibly valuable defense, effort and timely offense.

Moore had been endorsed in the past week by guys like Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose as a starter, saying the energy and spacing he provided was so valuable to the team. Moore has certainly responded to being inserted into the starting lineup, scoring 10 points in his debut as a starter and 15 points in the first half of their Wednesday game against Sacramento. Something about Moore's game just shouts Chicago. The street-like toughness, being essentially a home town kid from East Chicago, he isn't going to back down from his opportunity.

Every year, the NBA is littered with stories of success. Every time, however, an unlikely story seems to rise to the surface. Perhaps, through a year where Draymond's Warriors are dominating every headline, E'Twaun Moore can find his name among the individual success stories. Fans can be certain about one thing either way, Big Ten supporters are certainly proud of the success that two of the league's best players in the past decade have been having at the highest level of the sport.