Where will Florida's star guard Walter Clayton Jr. be selected in 2025 NBA draft?
The 2025 NBA draft is merely weeks away, and now that the deadline for those who want to return to college has passed, the outlook for this summer's selection process is ostensibly crystal clear.
For the Gator Nation, it has been a tense few weeks leading up to that deadline as star sophomore forward Alex Condon, along with center Rueben Chinyelu, explored their options in the upcoming draft. Fortunately for Florida, they both decided to return to Gainesville, teaming up to give the Gators a run at a possible two-peat.
However, one former member of the Orange and Blue is locked into the NBA draft after a prolific senior campaign that carried Todd Golden's team to the promised land. That player is point guard Walter Clayton Jr., who is projected nearly unanimously to be taken in the first round later this month.
Where will Walter Clayton be picked?
Sports Illustrated's Kevin Sweeney recently updated his 2025 NBA mock draft following the NCAA deadline, projecting Clayton to be selected by the Phoenix Suns with the penultimate pick of the first round at No. 29.
"Plug-and-play rotation pieces on controllable contracts are like gold to the Suns, so getting Clayton at No. 29 would be huge. The Final Four's Most Outstanding Player is among this draft's best shotmakers."
Walter Clayton's senior year stats
The graduating senior out of Bartow, Florida, averaged 18.3 points, 4.2 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game during the 2024-25 campaign. He earned First-Team All-SEC and All-American honors while being anointed Most Outstanding Player in the 2025 Final Four for his title-winning heroics.
Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
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