The NBA’s G League Combine took place this past weekend with Gator guards Zyon Pullin and Walter Clayton taking part.
Team executives pick the top eligible players they want to see perform at the NBA Combine, and the next tier of players that don’t make the NBA Combine go on to the G League Combine. A few of the top G League Combine performers will earn a spot to the NBA Combine–where all the top players want to be.
Zyon Pullin has exhausted his college eligibility so he is gone for sure, but Walter Clayton has maintained his collegiate eligibility and is open to a return to Florida.
To start off, players were officially measured. Walter Clayton came in at 6’2.5” without shoes, with a wingspan of 6’4.25”. Pullin was measured at 6’3.5” without shoes with a 6’5.75” wingspan.
Next came athletic testing, an area that has had a heightened importance recently. Zyon Pullin started things off with an impressive 34” max vertical, something that came as a bit of a surprise given that he didn’t have many above the rim plays in college. His standing vertical of 27” was a bit more pedestrian, but with a game that isn’t all that reliant on explosiveness that will do just fine. In the lane agility, ¾ court sprint, and shuttles, he found himself near the middle of the pack of the guards.
Walter Clayton was a different story. To begin, he put up a massive 37” max vertical leap followed up by a 28.5” stationary leap. This vertical leap was one of the best at the entire combine with wings known for their explosiveness being the only ones to best him. Next, he dominated the agility categories. His shuttle times, lane agility, and ¾ sprint were some of the best in the combine as he finished near the top of his groups and had scouts crowding around his area of the floor as he went through the workouts.
After the measurements and testing it was time for scrimmages with every player getting to play two games.
In Zyon Pullin’s first game he had 11 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds playing the kind of lead guard role he has throughout his career. He was particularly skilled in the pick and roll where he was finding his big men barreling towards the rim or finding shooters once the defense collapsed. He followed up that performance with 10 points, 2 assists, and 5 rebounds.
With Pullin the issue continues to be a reluctance to shoot the three, something that he improved on while at Florida but was not something he felt comfortable with at this level of play. He took just two three-point attempts in two games (he went 0-2), despite the fact that defenses were daring him to take them. On the positive side he looked physically dominant even among some elite prospects and played a mature game that looks to translate immediately to the NBA level.
In Walter Clayton’s first game Clayton had 14 points and 2 rebounds while showcasing his excellent first step and knack he has for getting to the rim. There weren’t a ton of plays being run for Clayton but he took advantage of every opportunity, making quick decisions and staying in constant attack mode which turned into points at the rim.
In his second game, Clayton finished strong with 17 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 steal. In this game he was able to show off his range going 3-6 from three–something he’ll need to be able to play at the highest level.
Overall, things couldn’t have gone much better for Clayton who excelled in every aspect of the event from athletic testing to the scrimmages. Entering the NBA Draft cycle it was expected that Walter Clayton would be returning to Florida and while that’s still expected to be the case, his strong performance at the G League Combine might open up some NBA opportunities that didn’t previously exist. With the 2024 Draft expected to be one of the weaker drafts in the past decade there could be more opportunities for players like Clayton which could make the Gators sweat out his decision. Look for there to be word on whether he returns to Florida in the next few weeks.