Derrick Walton makes NBA preseason debut
October 2nd, 2017 at 12:14 PM ^
Hopefully he can get some run as a 2nd-unit PG or the occassional spark plug off the bench. He definitely has the talent to be a useful player at the end of a bench.
October 2nd, 2017 at 12:18 PM ^
He won't start the season in the NBA. He's got up to 45 days this season that he can be with the Heat through his 2-way contract, and they'll save that for later in the year after he's gotten a chance to log a ton of minutes with Sioux Falls. Not to mention the team is very healthy at this juncture, so his call-up could also be a reaction to injuries in the Miami backcourt.
October 2nd, 2017 at 12:30 PM ^
This is probably right, but who else do the Heat have to back up Dragic? Right now it looks like they just have Larry Drew the Two.
I guess they could play Waiters at the 1 and cut out the middleman--he's going to shoot everytime anyway so why not let him bring the ball over half court?
October 2nd, 2017 at 12:42 PM ^
They play fairly positionless and have several guys that can serve as primary or secondary playmakers, making the backup PG not necessarily a traditional floor general type. Tyler Johnson will be the nominal backup to Dragic (as was on display last night when the second unit of Johnson-Ellington-Richardson-Winslow-Olynyk played a fair amount together).
None of this is an indictment of Walton, or how Heat management feels about him. Tyler Johnson, as well as wings Josh Richardson and Rodney McGruder are all former unheralded prospects that Miami's player development and D-League experience has turned into solid NBA rotation players. Johnson's $50 million contract was inflated by an aggressive offer sheet from Brooklyn, but is still worth $10+ million per year and Richardson just signed an extension for similar money. The Heat invest in these guys and are more patient than most, but for now Walton is behind a pile of players.
October 2nd, 2017 at 1:19 PM ^