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Walter Clayton Jr. is the hottest name in connection to the NBA Draft right now. The Florida Basketball guard is getting more attention than Cooper Flagg, the presumable first-overall pick, after leading the Gators to a national title.
Florida defeated Houston 65-63 in the NCAA National Championship on Monday night, putting a bow on a tremendous run for Clayton. While he struggled early on in this championship game, Clayton was a major part of Florida's success in the second half, finishing with 11 points and knocking down some critical shots down the stretch to keep his team in the fight.
Throughout the 2025 NCAA Tournament, Clayton was sensational, scoring 134 total points in six tournament games while shooting 20-of-46 (43.5 percent) from 3-point range. As a result, he was named the Most Outstanding Player in this year's tournament.
In terms of his NBA future, Clayton has been the one player teams have been scouting and getting more information about. Once projected to be a second-round pick, Clayton appears to have solidified his status as a first-round prospect. Should his hot streak continue in workouts and the NBA Draft Combine, the Florida guard could even start drawing interest in the lottery portion of the first round.
The sky's the limit for Clayton, especially given the praise he's receiving around the league. Media personnel covering the NBA have been raving about Clayton's talents on television, and plenty of scouts are also taking notice of his heroics.
“He's multiplied his draft stock significantly,” one scout told Adam Finkelstein of CBS Sports. “What he's showing with his dynamic of a shot creator that he is and not just a shooter and play finisher, it's going to put him in a spot that we have to talk about him as a lottery level talent.”
So many comparisons have been made about Clayton's game to current and former NBA talents. Some have gone out of a limb to compare him to Stephen Curry and Damian Lillard given his shooting tendencies. Then there are more realistic and achievable comparisons to Jamal Murray, Jalen Brunson, and Deron Williams that fit perfectly.
Between his shooting abilities and confidence with the ball as a primary playmaker, Clayton checks off all the boxes for being a reliable point guard in the modern NBA. His ability to play off the ball as a shooting guard is another reason his stock is rising.
So, where will Clayton ultimately end up in the 2025 NBA Draft?
Several teams will likely pursue Walter Clayton Jr. between now and June's draft, and a few organizations could make the most sense based on where his stock in trending right now. Not to mention, there are some dream scenarios for the sharpshooting guard as well.
Boston Celtics
Changes are on the horizon in for the Boston Celtics moving forward. This team's cap situation won't be getting any easier, and while new ownership already made it clear they will pay the price to win a championship, costs will be cut at some point.
With Jrue Holiday being 34 years old and finishing the first year of a four-year extension with Boston, the veteran point guard seems like the most logical option to try and leverage at some point down the line. No matter what, the Celtics want to keep Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown together.
Although the Celtics do have Derrick White and Payton Pritchard in their backcourt, Clayton could supply them with even more shooting and scoring prowess.
If he doesn't rise into the lottery or middle of the first round, Clayton should be available for the Celtics at the end of the first round. However, given the amount of attention on the Florida guard, it's hard to see him being there when Boston is set to pick 28th overall in this year's draft.
Miami Heat
Clayton won a championship in Gainesville, so why not go to South Beach and try to do the same next to Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro?
The Miami Heat are set to have two first-round picks this year, one of which will be in the lottery. While it's possible they may look to combine these picks in a trade with a player like Terry Rozier to try and pull off a big offseason acquisition, it makes a lot more sense for the Heat to continue investing in their future.
Due to Clayton's abilities to play with or without the ball in his hands on offense, he would be the ideal complementary guard next to Herro. In fact, Clayton would be exactly what the Heat thought Rozier was going to be for them in terms of scoring off the dribble and three-point shooting.
A Clayton-Herro backcourt wouldn't be all that undersized, and it would make the Heat's offense a lot more dynamic and versatile. Miami should think long and hard about keeping Walter Clayton Jr. in Florida.
Golden State Warriors
Could Clayton become the next era's version of Stephen Curry? Many are already making this comparison, but that isn't fair to Curry or Clayton.
The Golden State Warriors star has earned the right to be in a class of his own, and it's disrespectful to compare collegiate players to his legendary status. On the flip side, these expectations of greatness shouldn't be thrown at Clayton since reaching Curry's level is something nobody will ever be able to achieve.
At the same time, Clayton's strengths coming out of college are similar to Curry's when he was at Davidson in terms of perimeter play and commanding his team's offense. In a three-point shooting system that Golden State runs, Clayton could fill the void the Dubs have been looking to fill in their backcourt since Jordan Poole was traded.
It never hurts to have a spark of offense like Clayton can provide, and the Warriors could groom him to be the future of their backcourt next to Brandin Podziemski with Curry not getting any younger.
The only problem is that Golden State traded their first-round pick to Miami this season, and they won't retain this pick with the current protections. That means the Warriors would need to leverage future assets to move into the first round and draft Walter Clayton Jr. since he won't be there in the second round.
Long shot: Dallas Mavericks
If Clayton is to work his way into lottery consideration for this year's NBA Draft, then the Dallas Mavericks could make a lot of sense.
Kyrie Irving suffered a torn ACL this season and won't be returning until some point in 2026. After trading Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis, Nico Harrison is going to do everything he can to bring a championship to Dallas as soon as possible. That means he is going to be searching for winning talent who can contribute right now.
Not only is Clayton a 22-year-old senior with plenty of collegiate experience, but he just won a national championship. He has a proven track record of winning and can help fill the hole left behind by Irving's injury in the Mavs' backcourt.
Dallas is going to be a wild card this offseason in terms of nobody knowing what they are going to do, which is why this move for Clayton should be considered a long shot.
This lottery pick that the Mavs will end up with could easily be utilized as trade bait around the time of the draft. However, if Harrison doesn't trade the pick and is going to be searching for a player who can contribute right away and fill a spot on their roster, then Walter Clayton Jr. makes the most sense at 13th or 14th overall.
Dream spot: Orlando Magic
Florida fans and Clayton would likely be ecstatic if he were to be drafted by the Orlando Magic.
The Magic need scoring help. Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner have been this team's only sources of offense for the greater portion of the 2024-25 season since Orlando has battled a ton of injuries.
Depth has not been their friend in recent years, and the Magic have always needed a sure-thing point guard who can take pressure off Banchero and Wagner. Jalen Suggs can be that guy, but he has been much better playing off the ball at the shooting guard position.
Speaking of Suggs, he is another player some have compared Clayton to in terms of their abilities to get hot on offense and use their speed in transition. Clayton's run to the Final Four with Florida is similar to Suggs' when he was with Gonzaga.
These two combo guards are reliable shooting threats who wouldn't have the pressure of the entire offense on them since Wagner and Banchero are the stars of the team. If there is one area of improvement for the Magic this offseason, it's finding a smart and confident point guard who can lead their offense.
That description fits Clayton perfectly, and he would immediately be a fan favorite given his ties to Florida. If Walter Clayton Jr. is available in the middle of the first round, then Orlando would be foolish to pass on him.
