Sam Vecenie raves about offensive upside Walter Clayton brings to NBA

Walter Clayton Jr. proves to be one of the most interesting prospects in the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft. After leading the Florida Gators to a national championship, many see the college vet as a first-round talent.

Most mock drafts project Clayton to be a mid-to-late first-round pick. This rung true once again when The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie ran through his most recent mock draft. He slotted the former Gators star No. 20 overall to the Miami Heat, where he raved over the NBA prospect.

“After having done the deep dive, I just think he’s like, a more diverse offensive player in terms of how he gets into his shots, in terms of how he like finds open areas of the court,” Vecenie said on his podcast, Game Theory. “I think he is just generally a little bit better on defense right now, but not a lot better. But more than anything, I think he’s a monster shooter, like one of the best shooters in this class, just point blank.

“He is so capable of getting into his pull up game at a ridiculous, ridiculous level, 39.8% off catch and shoot threes this year, despite two thirds of them being contested and with him being at the top of scouting reports, getting tough defender every night, pristine balance on the shot.”

During Florida’s national title run, Clayton averaged 32.6 minutes, 18.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Moreover, he shot 44.8-percent from the field, 38.6-percent from 3, and 87.5-percent from the free-throw line, which all projects well at the next level.

He was named a first-team All-American by multiple publications and was a finalist for the Naismith College Player of the Year award, finishing behind Auburn‘s Johni Broome and the winner, Duke’s Cooper Flagg. While the NBA knows what it’s getting with Flagg, Clayton proves to be one of the most interesting prospects in this year’s NBA Draft cycle.

“He drilled 39% off of screens, 36% off dribble handoffs from three. [He’s] an awesome pull-up shooter. Plays it like this kind of funky, bouncy cadence makes him a threat to pull up at just like any point, right? He just has to be guarded tightly at all times, and then he’ll just like leverage you and get past you. Just a really, really impactful player to me.”

His accomplishments on the court are well-documented. This was recently highlighted from a tweet by his former head coach at Iona — Rick Pitino. Pitino went so far as to compare Clayton to Jalen Brunson, but not because of their styles on the court. He said they’re both winners.

Amid Brunson’s run leading the Knicks in the NBA playoffs, such high praise gets taken notice. Looking deeper at his career, it’s clear that this is true. Clayton compiled a 112-32 record during his college career. Only once did a team Clayton played for lose more than 10 games, which came in 2023-24 when Florida finished 24-12 overall.

He will hope that statistic follows him over the to NBA. The 2025 NBA Draft is scheduled for June 25-26 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.