The Long Island Nets, the NBA G League affiliate of the Brooklyn Nets, have acquired center Thon Maker from the available player pool. In a related move, Long Island requested waivers on forward Chris Walker.
Maker (7’0”, 221) has appeared in 263 career NBA games (65 starts) across five seasons with Milwaukee (2016-19), Detroit (2018-20) and Cleveland (2020-21), recording averages of 4.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in 13.8 minutes per game. Most recently, he spent the 2021-22 season overseas in the Israeli Basketball Premier League with Hapoel Jerusalem Basketball Club, where he averaged 3.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in 14.8 minutes per contest over six games. The South Sudan native was selected by Milwaukee with the 10th overall pick in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft. He earned Gatorade Virginia Boys Basketball Player of the Year honors after his sophomore season in high school at Carlisle School in Martinsville, Va., before transferring to Athlete Institute in Ontario, Canada.
Walker was selected by Long Island with the 20th pick in the second round of the 2021 NBA G League Draft. In 11 games with the Nets this season, Walker averaged 1.8 points and 2.2 rebounds in 6.5 minutes per contest.