Sixers sign Derrick Walton Jr. to a one-year, non-guaranteed deal
Walton averaged 2.2 points, 1.0 assist and 9.7 minutes in 23 games with one start with the Los Angeles Clippers last seaon before being traded to the Atlanta Hawks on Feb. 6.
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The 76ers added a point guard who is no stranger to their new coach.
Derrick Walton Jr. agreed to a one-year, non-guaranteed deal with the 76ers on Sunday, according to a league source. The 6-foot, 189-pounder played for Doc Rivers with the Los Angeles Clippers last season.
He averaged 2.2 points, 1.0 assist, and 9.7 minutes in 23 games with one start in Los Angeles before being traded along with cash to Atlanta for a 2022 second-round draft pick on Feb. 6. The Hawks immediately waived him. Walton then signed a 10-day contract with the Detroit Pistons on Feb. 21.
The 25-year-old from Detroit was a standout player at the University of Michigan. The four-year starter averaged 15.5 points, 5.0 assists, and 1.0 steal as a senior in 2016-17. That season he was named the Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player after averaging 20.5 points, 6.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.8 steals in Michigan’s tourney games.
After going undrafted, he played for the Orlando Magic’s entry in the 2017 NBA Summer League. Then, Walton later signed a two-way contract with Miami Heat on July 24, 2017, and splithis time between the Heat and their G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce. He averaged 1.8 points and 9.2 minutes in his 16 appearances with the Heat.
Walton went to Europe the next season and had stints with BC Žalgiris of the Lithuanian Basketball League and Alba Berlin of the Basketball Bundesliga.
But he began last season on the Clippers’ 15-man roster and played for Rivers, the coach the Sixers hired Oct. 3.