Walter Clayton Jr.'s new Utah Jazz nickname: "Walt Lake City"
At a press conference in which he and fellow Utah Jazz draftees were introduced Sunday, a local reporter suggested the new nickname “Walt Lake City.” Responding modestly, Walter Clayton Jr. answered, “We’ve got a little bit more work to put in before we start that.”
The answer was typical Walt. When singled out for high praise, it’s almost always an aw shucks response. Clayton has a game made for life in the big cities that make up the NBA but a personality better suited for home town Lake Wales. How about Walt Lake Wales? He would much rather talk about the team and how it takes everyone from the head coach all the way down to the manager handing out clean, dry towels to win basketball games.
It isn’t false modesty. That’s just the way Walter Clayton Jr. is off the court. Off the court he seems uncomfortable being the center of attention. On the court he’s a baby faced assassin whose legendary 3-pointers have the effect of an 11-inch stiletto plunged over and again in the heart. Just ask Missouri, Alabama and Tennessee, who he beat up in the SEC Tournament in Nashville. Just ask UConn, Texas Tech and Auburn, who he burned at the stake with one bomb after another from behind the arc.
Or Houston, whose championship dreams he put to rest with a brilliant defensive play as the final seconds ticked off the Alamodome clock in San Antonio. Whenever big plays are needed to effect the outcome of a game, Walter Clayton Jr. delivers. As modest as he seems off the court, on the court he plays with supreme confidence.
If there is one player taken in the first round of the NBA Draft who doesn’t doubt for even a nanosecond his own abilities, it is Walter Clayton Jr. Supreme self-confidence probably doesn’t do him justice. There is this old adage about shooters that in their mind the only bad shot is the one they didn’t take. Walt truly believes every shot he takes is going in.
Unlike some unconscious gunners, Walter Clayton Jr. seems to know when to take a shot and when to give the ball up to someone else. That’s one of the reasons the Utah Jazz took him with the 18th pick in the first round of last Wednesday’s NBA Draft.
Wrote Adam Finkelstein of CBS Sports, who gave the Jazz an A- grade for trading up with the Washington Wizards to take Clayton at No. 18 in the first round: “He is an elite shooter. When you're talking about perimeter role players in the NBA, that's the most important criteria. He is one of the very best shooters in this draft and has the versatility to play both on and off the ball. He has the body type to defend and the physical strength to be a more competitive defender in the NBA than what we saw for most of his college career.”
In handing out post-draft grades, Cameron Salerno of CBS Sports wrote, “As for Walter Clayton Jr., I couldn't love the potential fit more. There is some concern about the log jam of young talent Utah has, but Clayton is a plug-and-play scorer at the next level. The Jazz walked away with an upside swing and the best guard in college basketball. Not bad.”
Calling Clayton the best guard in college basketball isn’t a reach on the part of Salerno. Clayton proved it in leading the Gators to 12 straight wins at the end of the season – the three final regular season games that earned the Gators the No. 2 overall seed in the SEC Tournament, three at the SEC Tournament in Nashville (Missouri, Alabama and Tennessee) and six in the NCAA Tournament (Norfolk State, UConn, Maryland, Texas Tech, Auburn and Houston).
At the outset of the SEC Tournament, Clayton was considered a very late NBA first round/early second round prospect. As he led the Gators to come from behind wins over UConn (NCAA second round), Texas Tech (Elite Eight), Auburn (semifinals) and Houston (championship game) Clayton made it next to impossible for the NBA to avoid taking him in the first round.
Prior to the Wednesday draft, many experts had Clayton going in the bottom fourth of the first round, most likely to the Orlando Magic, but on draft night Utah didn’t want to wait around three places to see if Walt would still be there. So they made a trade with Washington to move up from No. 21 to No. 18 to take Clayton.
Wrote Sam Vecenie of The Athletic, “Utah likely felt like it had to jump the Heat at No. 20 for Clayton after rumors swirled that Miami was interested in him. Clayton was lethal at Florida as the Gators won the 2025 national title. He’s an underrated athlete in terms of explosiveness and balance.”
When taken by Utah on Wednesday, it seemed that Clayton was joining a crowded backcourt, but the Jazz showed just how much confidence they have in their rookie Sunday by trading starting point guard Collin Sexton and a second round pick in the 2030 draft to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for center Jusuf Nurkic. Sexton averaged 18.4 points and 4.2 assists per game last season. Nurkic, a 7-0, 260-pound 10-year NBA veteran, averaged 8.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. He is expected to be the primary backup for 7-1 Walker Kessler, who averaged 11.1 points and 12.2 rebounds per game.
Sexton is probably just the first move to clear space in the Jazz backcourt. Almost certain to be shipped out is Jordan Clarkson, an 11-year vet who played only 37 games in an injury-filled season. Likely on the block is Isaiah Collier, who spent most of his rookie season coming off the bench as the backup to Sexton and Clarkson.
With Sexton gone, the Jazz expect to turn the reins of the offense over to Clayton, who averaged 18.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game for the NCAA champion Gators. In the nine games of the SEC and NCAA tournaments, Clayton was the Most Outstanding Player at each level as he averaged 20.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. During that 9-game stretch, Clayton hit 33-72 of his 3-pointers, 45.8 percent.
If ever there was a Gator basketball player that deserved a statue outside the O Dome, it's Walter Clayton. First team All American, Most Valuable Player in NCAA Tournament, and Most Valuable Player in the SEC Tournatment, plus character that is off the charts.
Walter Clayton Junior‘s combination of personality and ability is absolutely made for the NBA. His college career has been an arc of continual development and improvement, and I expect to see that continue in the big league.
For work, in the last few years I spent a good bit of time in Salt Lake City, and it’s a beautiful place to live. As you might imagine, it’s very family oriented, and that should nicely fit Walter and his own family. It’s not a stretch to imagine that he can become a beloved figure in that town.
Wishing him absolutely ALL the best…
I wish Walter well in the NBA. I have not watched an NBA game in close to 20 years, but might take a look just to see how Walter does this year.