The Utah Jazz made a splash on draft night when it traded three spots up to leapfrog the Miami Heat and draft Florida's Walter Clayton Jr. with the No. 18 pick. The Gator star is now out west where he hopes to team up with his new teammate Ace Bailey to get the Jazz back into playoff contention in the Western Conference.
To get a better idea of how Jazz fans are feeling about their new guard, we reached out to our Fansided sister site The J-Notes and spoke with their site expert Matt John to see what Clayton is going to need to do to thrive in Salt Lake City.
Utah Jazz expert explains Walter Clayton Jr.'s fit in Salt Lake City
Hail Florida Hail: Utah had a stretch where it was one of the more competitive teams in the Western Conference before the bottom fell out over the past couple of years. How does Clayton fit into the rebuild of the Jazz?
Matt John: With the Jazz getting younger, I think their emphasis was on adding young players who can thrive when the going gets tough for when they really want to make the playoffs a few years from now. In other words, they wanted players who could hit clutch shots, so they went out and got perhaps the one player who showed more than anyone else in the draft that the lights aren't too bright for him.
Clayton proved that in the tournament, which could make him a key fixture of their closing lineup in the future, whether he's a starter or their sixth man.
HFH: Utah has Keyontae George and Isaiah Collier in the backcourt, and Clayton is older than those two. What was the motivation for Utah to trade up for Clayton?
MJ: Collier and George have some promise, but there are question marks about both of them. Collier is an excellent playmaker, but his jumper is very spotty, which limits his ceiling as a player. George did not take the leap that the Jazz had hoped for as a scorer, as his progress stagnated in Year 2.
Sadly, he's still woefully inconsistent and inefficient. Drafting Clayton signaled that they are being cautious in case neither of them works out in the end. Personally, I'm more optimistic about Collier than George, which is why I think picking Clayton puts the pressure on George to level up than it does for Collier.
HFH: There has been some early "drama" with Ace Bailey. Even though Bailey has since flown into Utah, has any of that impacted fan reactions where they are already gravitating towards Clayton?
MJ: If you ask me, the Bailey drama was overblown. I think he was surprised that Utah picked him as the Jazz were not who he wanted, but I don't think he had a problem with it as many believed he did. Fans were skeptical about the Bailey drama, but they are pretty excited about both of them. Bailey got more attention for obvious reasons, but I think Jazz fans have been ecstatic about Clayton from the start.
HFH: What are Utah fans' realistic expectations for Clayton?
MJ: I think Jazz fans, for the time being, look at Clayton and believe he's a Sixth Man in the making. Basically, he is their Jordan Clarkson replacement. That's to start though, as I think they are very open to him becoming more.
They didn't expect all that much from Mitchell at first, but when the 2017 Summer League happened, he grabbed everyone's attention, especially after they lost Hayward that summer. If Clayton follows that same pathway, expectations could be much higher.
-----
We thank Matt for his time and you can follow Clayton's NBA journey over at The J-Notes.