It was announced Monday that the Delaware 87ers acquired forward Derrick Byars.
Byars was selected by the Portland Trailblazers with the 42nd pick in the 2007 draft, where his rights were traded to the Philadelphia 76ers on the same night. Byars did not log any minutes for the 76ers and was waived on October 22, 2007. The 6ft, 7 inch forward then bounced around in summer leagues with the New Orleans Hornets and Orlando Magic in 2008. In September of 2o08, Byars was signed by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the preseason and registered 4.1 points and 14.8 minutes per game with the team. The Memphis, Tennessee native then was signed by the Bulls twice, once in 2009& 2010. In 2011, Byars got another chance in the NBA when he signed with the Miami Heat but he was waived before the season started. Byars only time to see action on the court in the NBA was with the San Antonio Spurs and he registered 10 points in 2 games with them in 2012. The Vanderbilt guard did sign with Memphis Grizzles but was waived in the beginning of the 2013 season.
Byars has been signed and played with multiple international leagues over the years. The the 2007 NBA draftee started his travels to Germany where played for the Köln 99ers and where averaged 6.3 points in 18 minutes per game. Byars then travel to France in 2008 and played for Chorale Roanne Basket of the Ligue Nationale de Basketball where he averaged 8 points in 24 minutes of playing time. In 2009, Byars went back to Germany and signed with ALBA Berlin where he averaged 7.8 points in 18.3 minutes per game. Byars then went on to play for Greece (2010), France (2011), Germany (2012), Russia (2013), Belgium (2014), Israel (2015), Puerto Rico (2016). Byars most recent international travels was to France where he played for JA Vichy in France of the LNB Pro B where he averaged 12 points,5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal in 16 games.
The 32 year forward also spent time in the NBA D-League with the Bakersfield Jam ( now the Northern Arizona Suns). Byars played four seasons with the Jam averaging 17 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal per game. Byars also earned some honors while in the D-League including All D-League Second Team selection in 2009 and All D-League Honorable Mention in 2011.
In his senior season at Vanderbilt in 2006, Byars averaged 16 points per game in 31.4 minutes per game. Byars earned All-SEC First Team and SEC Co-Player of the Year in the 2006-2007 season.