PORTLAND — He couldn’t promise that he’d break out his patented “Wiggle” for the near-sellout Portland Expo crowd Thursday night. But make no mistake, Antoine Walker still has his swagger.

“I’m a very unique player,” he said. “I think there’s not really guys that can do what I do in the (NBA) — at my size, to be able to space the floor, take guys off the dribble, make plays at my size, playing the ‘four’ position — there’s not a lot of guys that do that.”

Whether the 6-foot-9, 245-pound Walker is still unique or not, he’s on a mission to convince NBA teams that he is.

A 12-year NBA veteran and three-time All-Star with the Boston Celtics, Walker, 34,  was in Portland as a member of the Idaho Stampede, who were playing the Maine Red Claws Thursday night. It was his fourth NBA Development League game since signing with the Stampede earlier this month.

Walker’s comeback attempt in the NBADL is part redemption tour, part financial bailout project.

He last played for Minnesota in the 2007-08 season, averaging 8 ppg in 46 games. He was traded after the season to the Memphis Grizzlies and later released.

Financial problems that cropped up while he was still playing started to balloon. Walker’s debts, some of them accrued from gambling, became unmanageable. Last May, Walker filed for bankruptcy after being hit with a $2.3 million foreclosure lawsuit on a mansion he bought for his mother in the Chicago suburbs.

Walker made over $108 million in his basketball career, and knows his well-publicized financial woes have affected his NBA legacy. He’s been honest and open with his new team about his situation.

He said he’s not worried about whether he’ll ever get another big NBA contract. He’s just focused on getting back in basketball shape and finding his way back to the big leagues

“I want to give it one more shot. I don’t know if it’s going to work out or not,” Walker said during an 11-minute session with local and Boston media following a morning practice at the Expo. “I don’t have any set goals that it’s going to definitely work. But I’m here to work. I’m going to put my fullest effort and if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. If it does, it does.”

“The biggest thing that I’m having a little trouble with is the timing of the game,” he said. “When I first played last week, it was a little fast.”

Walker made his NBADL debut Dec. 8 against the Dakota Wizards. In three games going into Thursday night, he’d averaged 24.7 minutes, 10.7 points and 6.3 rebounds.

He said he chose the NBADL instead of playing overseas for a number of reasons. One is the Idaho coaching staff, which includes head coach Randy Livingston, an NBA veteran and friend of Walker’s since high school, and assistant Greg Minor, a teammate of Walker’s when they were with the Celtics.

“I think this is the best way to do it because you have so many guys that are trying to get to the NBA. I think this is the best route for me to get back. The competition’s great,” Walker said.

“This league is so young, so many guys coming in that are 18, 19, 20, so this is the perfect place to kind of gauge yourself,” he said.

Walker said he was enjoying the return to New England. The Stampede flew into Boston Wednesday, and he expected to have a number of his Boston friends in attendance Thursday night (and when the Stampede return to the Expo on Sunday) and at Iowa’s game in Springfield on Saturday.

He doesn’t expect to hear from an NBA team until next month, when teams can begin signing NBADL players to 10-day contracts.

“They know what’s going on down here, I’m sure,” he said. “When that time comes, we’ll reach out and see if I can fit to a team.”

The best fit, Livingston believes, will be a veteran team looking for an extra piece to help it with a playoff push, and he thinks Walker’s willingness to start in the minor leagues will help him.

“Sometimes you get a lot of veterans that just sit at home and wait for a phone call,” Livingston said. “When you’ve got a guy that’s willing to come run with the young guys, as they would say, and not afraid of failure or looking bad, and willing to work as hard he works at his crafts, still loves the game and has a passion for it, he can help you.”

 Perhaps “The Wiggle” will make its return first.

“I’m trying to wait until I get myself back together before I do that,” Walker said.