Pistons to sign Derrick Walton Jr. to a 10-day contract

The Detroit Pistons plan to sign Derrick Walton Jr. to a 10-day contract according to Rod Beard of the Detroit News.

Walton played his college basketball at the University of Michigan and also recently had his jersey retired by his high school, Chandler Park Academy in Harper Woods, Michigan. Walton entered the draft in 2017 after a four-year career at the University of Michigan and went undrafted. He averaged 11.6 points, 5 assists, and 4.8 rebounds during his college career.

Walton spent his first season on a two-way contract with the Miami Heat. He spent the 2018-19 season in Europe and was on the Los Angeles Clippers for most of this season. He signed an Exhibit 10 contract with them after playing for their Summer League team and made their 15-man roster for the season. He was waived to create space on their roster.

Derrick Walton Jr. hasn’t done much at the NBA level, as he has spent most of his time in the G-League. He averaged 16.1 points and 7 assists per game in 2017-18 and averaged 11.9 points and 6.9 assists in seven G-League games this season.

There isn’t a ton of upside to Derrick Walton Jr, but he is still only 24 years old. He doesn’t do a lot well, but he isn’t really awful at anything. He is also a bit undersized at 6’0”. The fact that he is a local player could maybe bring out a few fans that want to see him during this depressing rebuild.

Overall, it is a pretty “meh” signing, but you are not going to get a lot of great signings on a 10-day contract. Maybe Walton could stick around and be a backup during this rebuild if he shows something.