Sixers waive Derrick Walton Jr., Ryan Broekhoff ahead of preseason opener
The Sixers now have 18 players on their roster and can carry 17 during the regular season.
![Ryan Broekhoff (45), pictured playing for Dallas last season, was waived by the Sixers on Monday.](https://www.inquirer.com/resizer/nTkBTpc8GUXr5wlVRWmV1QaoKZ4=/760x507/smart/filters:format(webp)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/pmn/WSF7WUXDCZEGTDKYBYGBPZ54HE.jpg)
The 76ers trimmed their roster on the eve of their preseason opener against the Boston Celtics.
The team waived point guard Derrick Walton Jr. and shooting guard Ryan Broekhoff on Monday, according to a league source. This leaves the Sixers’ roster with 18 players heading into Tuesday’s matchup at the Wells Fargo Center.
Teams are allowed to carry 17 players (15 regular, 2 two-way) on their roster during the regular season, so the Sixers need to waive one more name before their Dec. 23 season-opener against the Washington Wizards. Two-way players can go between the NBA and the NBA G-League. The Sixers’ G League affiliate is the Delaware Blue Coats.
NBA teams are allowed to bring up a two-way player for a maximum of 45 days. After that, teams have to sign the player to the regular 15-man roster or send him to the G League. In the former case, the Sixers would have to release someone to make room for the player.
Walton and Broekhoff were both on non-guaranteed deals and were long shots to make the roster.
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This was Broekhoff’s second brief stint with the Sixers in several months.
The Australian originally signed with the Sixers before the NBA restart in July, but didn’t accompany the team to Kissimmee, Fla. due to his wife testing positive for COVID-19. He re-signed with the team on Nov. 24.
Broekhoff last played in an NBA game on Feb. 8 as a member of the Dallas Mavericks.
He averaged 4.0 points and 10.7 minutes while shooting 40.3% from three-point range in 59 career NBA games over two seasons with Dallas.
Walton agreed to play with the Sixers on Nov. 26.
He averaged 2.2 points, 1.0 assist, and 9.7 minutes in 23 games last season with the Los Angeles Clippers before being traded along with cash to Atlanta for a 2022 second-round draft pick. The Hawks immediately waived him. Walton then signed a 10-day contract with the Detroit Pistons.