Miami Heat Fans Love Walter Clayton Jr… But Should They? | 2025 NBA Draft Prospect

Miami Heat Fans Love Walter Clayton Jr… But Should They? | 2025 NBA Draft Prospect

Walter Clayton Jr. is a big time player. I’m shining. All right, y’all got it. Let’s finally do the Walter Clayton Jr. video. So far in our draft series, I’ve discussed Liam McNeely, Rashir Fleming, Noah Asen, Will Riley, and Nick Clifford. But of course, tons of people wanted me to talk about Walton Clayton Jr. So, shout out to all of these people and make sure to drop your comments below of what other prospects you’d like to see me talk about and I’ll be sure to get a video out on them. Now, I got to be honest, I’ve waited a little bit to make this video because watching Walter Clayton in the tournament, I really wasn’t the biggest fan of him truthfully for a couple of reasons. One, I’m not going to lie to you. It’s because, as you can see, I’m a salty, jealous, jealous Hurricanes fan, and I’m not afraid to acknowledge that. It’s been a rough 20 years being a Hurricanes fan in all sports outside of a couple of years here and there. But anyways, I’m not a Florida Gator fan like a lot of people watching this video. Sorry, not sorry. But I will do my best to be unbiased in this video because the second reason that I’m not really a big fan of his is because he’s not subscribed to the YouTube channel just like 55% of y’all. Make sure to subscribe to fix that. I do appreciate your support. Let’s get back into the video. is because yes, he was awesome in the tournament and I respect the hell out of him for that because he’s definitely got the cojones, but he’s an older player and he’s kind of one-dimensional and truthfully with the Heat’s 20th pick in the draft, I do prefer that they take the higher upside pick. Now, that that opinion could change depending on how their Heat roster shakes out and if they’re able to get a win out guy like Kevin Durant while keeping this pick. Obviously, that could change, but at number 20, I think that’s a nice spot to take an higher upside pick. Now, I know yesterday or in the last video at least, we talked about Nick Clifford, who is an older prospect, and I do like him. He’s actually a a whole year older than Walter Clayton, but he’s a much more versatile player already and he’s way more athletic and he has a bigger frame. Although at the combine, Walter Clayton actually weighed only 3 lbs less than Nick did, which is good considering he’s 3 in shorter, but he did come in with his official measurements at 6’2 with a 6’4 wingspan and he was 199bs. Of course, he’s 22 years old. though. Couple of things about his measurements. I I do like that he has a positive wingspan. Although it’s just by 2 in, but that’s a sign that all of the great prospects have is they have a positive wingspan. Now, that’s not to say that if you have a negative wingspan that you’ll be a bad player, but just historically, it’s not great. I know Tyler Herro is one of the rare cases where it worked out because he is a great player. But being the fact that Hero is one of those guys that has a negative wingspan, you can see how much of the the limitations he has on the defensive side. So that is a check in Walter Clayton’s box, the fact that he has uh a positive wingspan. And overall, I don’t want to act like his frame is is bad, right? He’s not as tall, doesn’t have as big a wingspan as a guy like Nick Clifford, but you know, at 6’2 with with a 6’4 wingspan, he’s not like he’s extremely small and skinny like a guy like Jace Richardson is. We haven’t made a video on Jace Richardson yet. I I probably will get to it, although I’m not his biggest fan just because that’s a guy who’s very, very small and he’s been linked to the Heat a ton. But the reason that I got a lot of concerns about Jace Richardson is because he’s only 6 foot and 178 pounds. So quite a lot smaller than Walter Clayton Jr. So Walter actually played his first two seasons at Iona and then his final two seasons at Florida where of course he won a championship. I’m sure a lot of people are familiar with his stats at at this point. Averages 19 points per game, four assists, almost four rebounds a game. But it’s the efficiencies that really get people excited. 45% from the field, but 39% from three on eight attempts, which is really great. But where the numbers really pop out at you is in the tournament, of course, in their six games while they were on their run to win the whole thing. He averaged 22 points per game on 47% from the field and 44% from three. And that’s again on almost eight attempts. That is phenomenal efficiency. And I do want to note that one of the reasons why if I wanted to be positive about Walter Clayton, I could be. I am a guy that puts a lot of stock into how guys perform in the tournament because to me that’s a huge stage or obviously it’s a huge stage but if you can perform on that stage I think it’s a great sign that when you get into the NBA you can you also have the the mindset to perform on that stage as well cuz obviously you know one of the biggest ifs about a college player transitioning to the league is the mental side of it. Do they have the balls to perform in front of millions of people watching on TV every single night? There’s no doubt in my mind that Walter Clayton Jr. has that kind of mindset and I think that’s very very important especially as Heat fans. I I think back to what Dwayne Wade did in the tournaments. I mean I guess I wasn’t watching it. I was only like four years old when when he was in the tournament but you listen and you learn about all these things DW did in the tournament and then of course when he was in the NBA he just became a big-time player who never uh sh uh shied away from the moments and that really started back at Marquette. So that’s probably the biggest check in Walter Clayton’s box. So while a lot of people are high on him, most of the mocks do have him going after the Miami Heat’s 20th slot. I think the only one that had him ahead of us was CBS who had him at number 18. But NBA Draft.net had him at 27. Both Bleach Report and The Ringer had him at 25. Yahoo also had him at 27. And then Tankathon had him at number 25. I saw a lot of player comps. Obviously, most of them are smaller guards, but none of these guys are really similar. So, I don’t think anybody really has a great grasp on what he will become. I saw Cameron Payne, who he likes to do a lot of off the dribble threes, not so much catch and shoot, although a little bit. I saw Pton Pritchard, who although he’s very small, I think he’s probably a better defender than than uh Walter Clayton could ever be. Same thing with Cole Anthony. Fred Van Fleet is a way better facilitator than I think Walter Clayton would ever be. Uh, as then I saw a couple of scorers like Ben Gordon, Jordan Clarkson. If that is Walter Clayton’s peak, then that’s a really good player because obviously Clarkson’s been in the league for a long time as one of the best sixmen and Ben Gordon was an absolute sniper back in his day. The last comparison that I saw that actually kind of really turned me off uh about Walter Clayton is I swear from NBA Draft.net I saw a Tyler Johnson comparison, which listen, I love Tyler Johnson. I he was he was great for the Heat for a while, but when he got that $50 million contract because the Heat matched the the offers by the Brooklyn Nets, that’s when we started to sour on Tyler Johnson a little bit as a as a Heat fan base. So, great player, but a little bit of the PTSD just from that whole contract situation. And truthfully, I don’t even see the comparisons between TJ and Walter Clayton just because Johnson was so athletic that he used to sell shirts saying Tyler Johnson will dunk on you. Walter Clayton is not dunking on anybody. But now, let’s move on to some of his strengths and weaknesses. Once again, we’re taking these from Kevin Oconor on his Yahoo article, but I’ll also share my own opinion throughout to through my separate research and highlight watching. So, the first strength they have is obviously, well, almost all his strengths are shooting, but they break it down a little bit. The first one is his shooting versatility. They say there isn’t a shot that he isn’t comfortable taking. That sounds a lot like Terry Rosir and Tyler Herro to an extent. So, I’m not sure I I love that shot. You appreciate the confidence, but you want a guy to take smart shots, but maybe for him, everything’s a smart shot because says that he’s very good firing off handoffs, over ball screens, rising off balance at the end of the shot clock. These are all things that also kind of uh are comparable to the shot diet of Duncan Robinson. And one of the things that makes Duncan such a lethal shooter, it’s not just that he can get him in the hoop, it’s that he can get him in the hoop in multiple ways. And that’s why guys really haven’t been able to stop Duncan Robinson from shooting. You know, if you’re just a corner specialist, you could have a guy sit in the corner and shadow you and not play help help coverage. But if you are constantly moving without the ball, there’s always a way to adjust and and whether it’s getting off screens that that will allow you to get your shot off. So, it is good to hear that Walter Clayton is very good off the ball. It also mentions another strength of shot creation. So it says he has basically the handle or he can be a guy that you give a grenade at the end of a shot clock and he has that dribble package to sort of get his own shot up. But to me that strength is basically the same thing as the first strength which is shooting versatility. And then the next strength they have is it just says clutch says he’s immune to pressure. Of course he hit that crazy three-pointer uh late in that win versus Yukon. He also had that wild three in the Elite Eight while he was dribbling away from the basket. So those are all his strengths you know that they had in the article. So, just to sum it up, they’re basically all shooting related, which kind of goes back to my initial concern concerns of him being a one-dimensional player. But let’s look at some of the weaknesses here. The first one they say is defense. Says he loses focus, blows assignments, not a strong on ball defender. All of those things are quite literally the opposite of heat culture, or at least what heat culture is supposed to be. We know at this point culture is more of a marketing strategy and a brand than actually meaning something. But I would like to see the Heat trend back in that direction so they’re not giving up 138 points in an elimination game at home like they did against the Cleveland Cavaliers. I think the Heat maybe got a little bit too far away from that culture toughness mindset and I would kind of like to see them go back in that direction with guys like DaVon Mitchell. So I don’t love the fact that Clayton isn’t great, you know, with with the defensive stuff there. It also says he’s not a good playmaker. Can’t be trusted to be a decision maker. sometimes throws the ball away cuz he lacks visions to read defenders. If you are that greatest shooter when guys are closing out at you, you’re going to want to be able to drive and kick find the open man. If you start getting double teamed, it’s not a positive sign for him going forward that he’s not a great playmaker. Also, it says another weakness is at rim finishing. Another thing that’s bad to be if you’re a shooter because when guys close out, if you want a drive and kick, maybe the defender won’t help off the shooters in the corner because they don’t trust you to make a layup at the rim. That’s the case with Walter Clayton. He was only 51% uh conversion rate on his layups, which is not good at all. It’s not great. He lacks explosiveness. He’s a a below the rim finisher. Uh and he’s not great at finishing through contact, although he is 200 lb at 6’2. Decent frame as far as width, but just doesn’t really have that uh that that he doesn’t really like to look for contact when driving in the paint. So, based off everything that I seen uh in the tournaments, I agree with all these strengths and weaknesses that that Kevin Oconor listed. Uh that’s why to be honest I don’t really love Walter Clayton for the Miami Heat because I don’t see the fit. A lot of the people that do love the uh do would like the Heat to take him is they say that he can be the Duncan Robinson replacement. Of course Duncan is on the last year of his $19 million deal. But if the Heat were to cut him, he’s only actually due $9 million. So they could shave $10 million off their salary cap just by cutting him. That means that he’s also a valuable contract to trade to another team. So, I think the odds of Duncan Robinson not being on this team next year are actually pretty high, but I don’t really think that that Walter Clayton is the is the answer to that because uh yes, he does a lot of similar things shooting wise as as Duncan Robinson does, but if you look at all the weaknesses of of Walter, it said defense, playmaking, and at rim finishing. Well, Duncan does two two of those three things pretty well. Obviously, defensively, he’s not great. He gets called for fouls a lot, although I do think he was better last year than in previous seasons. But his playmaking is really good. We talk all the time about that dribble handoff between him and Bamea. And sometimes his pick and roll passing is great. Also, they just have such a great connection where if the if the defense commits to dunking, he can find the role man going to the rim. He can find the open shooter in the quarter. He’s he is a very smart playmaker. And then his at rim finishing, you might not believe it, consistently year after year, he is one of the best uh finishers at the rim in terms of conversion rate. I remember one year he was like literally number one. He was at like 90% at the rim. And I know that’s because the volume wasn’t super high, but still he is a shooter, but gets to the rim when the defense close out and he’s able to finish. You have to be able to do that at the next level in the NBA and that’s something Duncan Robinson does and Walter Clayton just really doesn’t. So, if you’re gonna take the older prospect, I much prefer Nick Clifford. And again, that’s if he’s available because Nick was mocked at 20 uh 20th in the draft at the low end. There’s a reason a lot of mocks had him higher, some even late lottery. So, the the reality is at number 20, you know, for the Heat, it’s not a great pick. So, sometimes you might have to settle for a guy like Walter Clayton Jr., even though I would much rather have Nick Clifford. But if they were to get Clayton, I I guess he could help with some bench scoring. Obviously, the Heat didn’t get the bench scoring they needed this last season from Terry Rosir and Jame Hakez. Those were supposed to be the guys that were going to kind of carry the bench units. So, I guess Walter Clayton could do that and a Jordan Clarkson type role, but he could never play next to Tyler Herro in a million years. And at the end of the day, you can always find a guy who could shoot the basketball. So, I don’t really think it’s worth the Heat wasting a first round pick to get that type of guy cuz think he’d always do it. Think about Duncan Robinson. Think about Max Drew. Think about Cole Swider. Remember the amazing Swedman was like 50% from three in the summer league. He could shoot his ass off and not play defense. That’s what Walter Clayton does. So, there’s really no point in wasting a first round pick when you can get a guy like that. Even in this draft, there’s a guy in the second round named Kobe Brea, uh, who or he’s a projected second round pick. He looks amazing and he’s 66 and he’s from Kentucky. So, there’s not any concerns there in terms of his who he played against or or even his size. And at Kentucky last year, he shot 44% from three on six attempts. So, maybe that he could even trade down, get some more assets, and instead of taking Clayton at 20, take Kobe Brea early in the second round. I would much prefer that if I was the Miami Heat. But, let me know all your thoughts down below. Do you actually like Walter Clayton Jr. or are you just a Gator fan and you would like to see him continue his career in South Florida? Let me know what y’all think down in the comments below. Make sure to like the video and subscribe cuz all your support is greatly appreciated. And I’ll see you on the next one. Peace out, everyone. 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Discussing Walter Clayton Jr. from Florida as a potential selection for the Miami Heat at 20th in 2025 NBA Draft. NBA and Miami Heat News featuring Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins, Terry Rozier, Nikola Jovic, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Duncan Robinson, Josh Richardson, Kevin Love, Haywood Highsmith, Kel’el Ware, Pelle Larsson, Keshad Johnson, Erik Spoelstra and more. Subscribe for more Miami Heat, Miami Dolphins, NBA and NFL news.

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