Michigan Basketball: Derrick Walton Jr. Staying Under The NBA Radar
Even as Derrick Walton Jr. dragged Michigan basketball from the cemetery, Moritz Wagner and D.J. Wilson have been getting all the NBA love.
If you Google “Michigan basketball NBA” right now, you’ll find quite a bit about the rising stocks of Moritz Wagner and D.J. Wilson, who played well all season but finally had a bright enough light on them in the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments to rope in more eyes than usual.
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But what about Derrick Walton Jr.? You’ll have to skip to the second or third page of results to find something about the player who was responsible for getting the Wolverines that kind of attention in the first place.
With 126 career starts under his belt (third on the all-time list at Michigan), NBA scouts would struggle to find a more tried and tested player on the market. What’s more, the beginning portion of his career was done while everyone was comparing him to Trey Burke, who left what many thought to be a void that Michigan wouldn’t be able to fill right away.
Four years later, Walton has done what he’s needed to show the NBA that he’s ready for their game too.
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If you’re only familiar with the Walton who emerged in the latter half of the Big Ten season, then you’re probably thinking his greatest strength is that he can score in bunches and light it up from behind the arc. That’s a plus, no doubt, but it’s not his greatest weapon.
Walton has always been a player who’s able to get it done in just about every column of the box score. He was one of the best rebounding guards in the country. He worked extremely well in pick-and-roll/pop situations. He played some of the better defense Michigan has had in the last few seasons.
And, oh yeah, he can score.
But even within that scoring outburst, there are details to admire. Like how he developed the ability to create his own shot, not only in mismatch situations, but against whoever was guarding him.
He crossed up more than a few defenders this season. That one-on-one development has to be something scouts will admire when they study the tape.
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It’s looking likely that Walton will get a shot to compete in the NBA Summer League and try to play his way onto a roster. His final stretch at Michigan was spectacular enough for at least that.