With the 29th overall picking the first round of
2010 NBA draft, the
Orlando Magic selected Daniel Orton. On July 1, 2010, Orton signed his rookie contract with the Magic. On December 1, 2010, it was announced that Orton would be sent to the
New Mexico Thunderbirds of the
NBA Development League. In his second game for the Thunderbirds, Orton suffered a season-ending knee injury. Orton made his NBA debut on January 27, 2012, in a Magic loss to the
New Orleans Hornets. On April 15, 2012, in a win against the
Cleveland Cavaliers, Orton scored a career-high 11 points while also recording 5 steals, 4 rebounds, and 3 blocks. In 16 games, he averaged 2.8 points per game. He played his first career playoff game against the
Indiana Pacers. On August 4, 2012, Orton was signed by the
Oklahoma City Thunder. On October 27, 2012, Orton was released by the
Oklahoma City Thunder, after losing out to
DeAndre Liggins for the final roster spot during the pre-season. However, he was re-signed by the team on October 31, 2012, after the team had sent center
Cole Aldrich to the
Houston Rockets in a trade that also involved
James Harden. The Thunder assigned Orton to the NBA D-League's
Tulsa 66ers several times during the 2012–13 season. On October 10, 2013, he was waived by the Thunder. On October 16, 2013, he signed with the
Philadelphia 76ers. On November 23, 2013, Orton recorded his first double double with 10 points, a career-high 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks in a 98–106 loss to the Indiana Pacers. On January 7, 2014, he was waived by the 76ers. On January 22, 2014, the Tulsa 66ers traded Orton's rights to the Maine Red Claws. In July 2014, he joined the
Washington Wizards for the
2014 NBA Summer League. On September 29, 2014, he signed with the Wizards. However, he was later waived by the Wizards on October 16, 2014. The next day, he signed with
Shanxi Zhongyu of the
Chinese Basketball Association. He was later dismissed by Shanxi in favor of
Jeremy Tyler. On December 8, 2014, he signed with the
Sichuan Blue Whales for the rest of the 2014–15
CBA season. Following the conclusion of CBA regular season, he terminated his contract with the Blue Whales on February 1, 2015. On February 4, he signed with
Purefoods Star Hotshots of the
Philippine Basketball Association. In his first game on February 11, he recorded 16 points and 12 rebounds. After his third game against
Kia Carnival, he called Kia player-coach (now Senator)
Manny Pacquiao and the game's referees "a joke". He was summoned by PBA commissioner
Chito Salud two days after the incident and was fined by the commissioner's office
PHP250,000 due to his comments. Subsequently, he was sent home by Purefoods' team governor Rene Pardo on February 21. On March 11, he returned to the D-League, this time joining the
Grand Rapids Drive. On March 26, he was waived by the Drive. He appeared in six games for the Drive, averaging 6.7 points and 5.8 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game. On March 31, he was acquired by the
Idaho Stampede, but was deactivated the following day. On August 20, 2015, Orton signed with
AEK Athens. However, he was cut from the team a month later before appearing in a game for them. On November 12, 2015, he was acquired by the Santa Cruz Warriors. On January 18, 2016, he was waived by the Warriors. On May 24, 2016, Orton signed with Hunan Yongsheng of China for the 2016
NBL season. On April 12, 2019, he signed with Karesi Spor of the
Turkish Basketball First League. On November 4, 2021, he signed with
Taoyuan Leopards of the
T1 League. ==NBA career statistics==