Florida's Walter Clayton Jr. projected to this team in CBS Sports's latest NBA mock draft
Florida's Walter Clayton Jr. projected to this team in CBS Sports's latest NBA mock draft
The 2025 NBA draft is just two weeks away and ahead of the professional basketball league's annual amateur selection process, the predictions continue to roll in from every corner of the sports media.
The main focus for fans of the Florida Gators is on point guard Walter Clayton Jr., who willed the Orange and Blue to its third national championship last spring. The prolific player from Lake Wales, Florida, was among the best that the college ranks had to offer during the 2024-25 campaign, and now it is his turn to cash in on his talents in the draft.
The big question has centered on where Clayton could land. The consensus take is that he will be selected in the first round, but experts' opinions vary from somewhere near the end of the lottery to the end of the first day of the draft.
So, where does CBS Sports writer Cameron Salerno expect Clayton to be picked? He answers that query in his latest mock draft, which has the Gator great heading to the Minnesota Timberwolves with the 17th selection.
"The Timberwolves are in an interesting spot heading into the offseason. Minnesota reached the conference finals in back-to-back seasons for the first time in franchise history but now has a handful of key decisions to make. Minnesota swung big and traded up to draft Rob Dillingham last summer," Salerno explains.
"With the point guard position still not finalized long-term, the Timberwolves take arguably the best guard in college basketball from this past season."
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, and was named 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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