Patton was born to Tora Patton. He has three siblings, Terrel Steen, Kendall Patton, and Raven Bryson. He was a social work major at Creighton, and is the cousin of Creighton's former basketball player Donnie Johnson.
Patton redshirted his first year at Creighton in 2015. Greg McDermott, his coach, had considered a redshirt for many different reasons. Patton was young for a freshman and still needed to develop his game. Patton also would have to play limited minutes behind Creighton's other big, 7-foot-center Geoff Groselle. McDermott believed that Patton needed to learn how to compete at this level, and learn the importance of a healthy diet and sleep. In his first college game in 2016, he scored 12 points and had eight rebounds. He scored a season high 25 points against St. John's on January 4. 2017. He had 13 straight games in double-figures before breaking it in a loss against Xavier on February 4, 2017. During his freshman season he was named Big East Freshman of the Year, and Second Team All-Big East. On April 5, 2017, Patton relinquished his college eligibility by declaring for the NBA draft and signing with an agent.
Professional career
Minnesota Timberwolves (2017–2018)
Patton was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 16th pick in the 2017 NBA draft. On draft night his rights were traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves along with Jimmy Butler in exchange for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, and the draft rights to Lauri Markkanen, the seventh pick. On July 4, 2017, Patton signed with the Timberwolves. Patton was to participate in the 2017 NBA Summer League, however, he suffered an injury during the workout and underwent an immediate surgery to repair his broken left foot, and was sidelined indefinitely. Patton made his NBA debut on April 1, 2018, against the Utah Jazz, scoring two points on two shots and made one steal in his only game with the Timberwolves. Patton remained with the team for the rest of their season. On April 18, 2018, Patton underwent surgery on his left foot to encourage further healing of the injury he suffered the previous summer. The team announced he would be sidelined indefinitely. Patton spent the majority of his rookie season with the Iowa Wolves, and started in 38 games, while averaging 12.7 points and 5.4 rebounds in 23.2 minutes per game. On September 18, 2018, Patton underwent surgery for a broken right foot.
Philadelphia 76ers (2018–2019)
On November 12, 2018, Patton was traded, along with Jimmy Butler, to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Robert Covington, Dario Šarić, Jerryd Bayless, and a 2022 second-round draft pick. On April 3, 2019, Patton was waived by the 76ers after appearing in 3 games.
On February 20, 2020, the Wisconsin Herd announced that they had acquired Patton off waivers. Patton played seven games for the Herd before the season was ended early due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He averaged 12 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.4 blocks per game with the team.
Detroit Pistons (2020–present)
On June 26, 2020, the Detroit Pistons announced they had signed Patton.
At 7'0, 230 pounds, with a 7'2 ½ wingspan, Patton was initially recruited to Creighton as a defensive center. He is a strong rim-runner, and his passing ability has been compared to that of Vlade Divac. He is able to effectively play above the rim, as a strong finisher. He has sometimes struggled with positioning for rebounds. He is sometimes late to challenge shots at the basket, and sometimes needlessly swipes at the ball, which leads to foul trouble.
