Jazz Mailbag: What Does Walt Clayton Jr. Offer The Team?
Jul 1, 2025, 3:04 PM | Updated: Jul 4, 2025, 10:08 am
SALT LAKE CITY – Welcome to the Utah Jazz mailbag, where this week we look at what rookie Walt Clayton Jr. might add to the roster.
Each week, we will send out a prompt on X and BlueSky asking for the questions you have about the Jazz.
Then, we’ll respond to as many as we can in that week’s Jazz mailbag in the Jazz Notes podcast.
Jazz Mailbag: What Does Walt Clayton Jr. Bring To Utah?
Talk me into Walt Clayton. What makes him different from other undersized March heroes (Trey Burke, Shabazz Napier, Shane Larkin, etc.)?
— Jesse (@The99thProblem) June 30, 2025
Question: What makes Walt Clayton different than other undersized March heroes?
Answer: First and foremost, these are fully legitimate comparisons, as all three players had terrific college careers, but largely flamed out in the NBA.
Shabazz Napier is perhaps the best statistical comparison, and similarly played at a high level at UConn, helping the Huskies win the title twice during his four-year college career.
However, where I might disagree with your query is in the phrase “undersized” when talking about Clayton.
Napier measured in at 5-foot-11 at the combine and weighed just 175 lbs.
Trey Burke was 5-foot-11.75 and weighed 189 lbs upon entering the league.
And Shane Larkin was the smallest of the three, measuring just 5-foot-10.25, while weighing 171 lbs.
Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr’s official measurements from the NBA Draft Combine:
6’2″ barefoot, 199 lbs with a 6’4” wingspan and 8’1 ½” standing reach pic.twitter.com/XHD0djZIUr
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) May 12, 2025
Though Clayton has far from elite size for a guard, measuring in at 6-foot-2 while weighing 199 lbs, a far cry from today’s jumbo guards that have taken over the NBA, he’s got much better size than the aforementioned Napier, Burke, or Larkin.
And, those few inches are significant.
Upon entering the NBA, Larkin’s three-point shooting dipped from 40 percent as a college sophomore to 31 percent as a rookie.
Napier dropped from 40 percent to 36 percent, while Burke fell from 38 percent to 33 percent.
Related: Jazz Add Walter Clayton Jr. With 18th Pick
What is even more striking is how each player shot just 38 percent from the floor, despite respectable averages in college. Upon entering the NBA, their diminutive size was too prohibitive to allow them to score efficiently inside the arc.
Clayton shot significantly better on two-point field goal attempts in college than both Burke and Napier, and slightly better than Larkin for his career.
The other key element for the new Jazzman is his shot profile.
While Napier, Burke, and Larkin could all shoot in college, none of the three were as prolific shooting the ball off the dribble as Clayton Jr. was at Florida.
The Jazz rookie shot 40 percent from three off the catch as a senior, and an even more impressive 37 percent off the dribble.
As Maryland head coach Kevin Willard explained, Clayton was likely the best off-the-bounce shooter in college last season, and one of the best we’ve ever seen.
“He grades better than any player they’ve ever had, analytically shooting the basketball off the dribble,” Willard told alligator.org.
Additionally, though Clayton won’t be described as a particularly effective defender at the moment, his added size should help him compete more effectively than Napier, Burke, or Larkin.
Now, that is not to say that Clayton is guaranteed to have a better career than any of these three players, each of whom had mixed success in the NBA before extending their careers overseas, but there is reason for optimism.
Ultimately, fans should remember that Clayton is a mid-first-round pick, and the hit rate on these players is somewhere in the 50-50 range. But, his specific skillset, mixed with the need for shooting in the NBA, should give him a shot to be a high-impact player with the Jazz.
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Ben Anderson is the author of the Jazz Mailbag, a Utah Jazz insider for KSL Sports, the author of the Jazz Mailbag, and the co-host of Jake and Ben from 10-12p with Jake Scott on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone. Find Ben on Twitter at @BensHoops, on Instagram @BensHoops, or on BlueSky.
