Walter Clayton Jr.
Guard
Flamethrowing guard with championship pedigree.
Players in Walter Clayton’s mold – older, smaller, yet productive college guards – are often not highly valued in the draft, but Clayton stands out from the norm for a few reasons. Most notably, he possesses a truly elite skill in his perimeter shotmaking and general ability to get into his jumper. His numbers are already impressive (a career 39% from three on 11.8 attempts per 100 possessions, and 88% from the free throw line), but the eye test is even more convincing. There are very few players, at any level, who can match Clayton’s combination of shooting versatility – both on and off the ball.
The off-ball aspect is another area which separates him from many guards in his archetype. A lot of smaller college guards are used to dominating the ball and struggle to adapt when they don’t meet the threshold of an NBA-level primary initiator. While Clayton played on the ball plenty in college, he’s clearly one of the top 2-3 off-ball shooting prospects in this class. He’s comfortable running off screens and has impressive body control with the ability to square up and get balanced in midair, which gives him real gravity as a movement shooter.
Another positive indicator for Clayton is that he does have some strength and physicality to his game, even if that’s not what his skillset is based around. At nearly 200 pounds he has a good amount of bulk for his size, which has proven to be extremely important for being successful as a small guard in the NBA on both ends. His career FT rate of above 30% is very respectable for a high 3pt volume guard, and shows he has at least some physicality to his game as a driver. Defensively he’s probably never going to be an asset, but if his strength allows him to hold his own when teams try and target him, that can make a notable difference in the amount of value he brings to the table.
A big question mark with Clayton is how much he’ll be able to handle the ball in the NBA. He’s more of a scoring guard than a natural playmaker, and while he’s capable of making reads out of ball screens, I think his vision lags a little behind the median NBA Point Guard. He has enough burst to get past defenders off the dribble, but his handle still has room for improvement and he’s not going to stand out athletically at the next level. If Clayon can sharpen his decision making and floor game to the point where he can operate as a primary ball handler for stretches, that could be the difference between being a full time player vs. a bench specialist.
AJ Carter