‘Very Familiar With Walt’: Dusty May Details Ties To Walter Clayton Jr. After Dallas Mavericks Sign Former Florida Star
HOUSTON — Walter Clayton Jr. took an unofficial visit to Florida Atlantic while Dusty May coached there and later roomed with May’s son at Florida, the Dallas Mavericks coach said Wednesday, hours after Dallas signed Clayton to a two-way contract.
May spoke at Toyota Center before the Mavericks opened their season against the Houston Rockets at 7:30 p.m. CT. The Memphis Grizzlies waived Clayton on Monday, and no team put in a claim before Wednesday’s 4 p.m. CT waiver deadline, as Dallas Sports Journal reported. Clayton will wear No. 1.
Clayton went through a pre-game workout in Houston on Wednesday and will be active for the opener.
Clayton’s ties to May go back to May’s six seasons at Florida Atlantic.
“He actually unofficially visited us at FAU, so I’ve known him for a long time,” May said. “And then he was my son’s roommate at Florida, so I’m very familiar with Walt.”
Jack May was a walk-on at Florida in 2023-24, Clayton’s first season with the Gators after he transferred from Iona.
“I assume so,” May explained of Clayton as a roommate. “I never heard none of those things. I think roommates are one of those things you only hear when it’s really bad. He was either good or okay.”
A reporter suggested Jack would know best.
“You’d have to ask Jack, yes,” May said.
A season after Jack May’s walk-on year, Clayton led Florida to the 2025 national championship. He was named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.
Walter Clayton Jr. Fills Dallas Mavericks’ Final Two-Way Spot
Dallas cleared room for Clayton on Saturday by waiving John Poulakidas from his two-way contract. Jett Howard and Tobi Lawal hold the other two. The Mavericks open the season with 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals.
Under the league’s two-way rules, Clayton can be active for up to 50 regular-season games. He is ineligible for the postseason unless Dallas converts him to a standard contract. The full-season two-way salary for 2026-27 is $678,882.
Only players with fewer than four years of NBA service can sign two-way deals. Clayton has one. Dallas can also send Clayton to its G League affiliate, the Texas Legends.
Clayton’s Rookie Season With Utah Jazz And Memphis Grizzlies
On June 17, 2025, eight days before the draft, Florida coach Todd Golden said he thought Clayton should go around 10th or 12th.
“I’ve gotten great reports from different NBA teams that have worked out Walt,” Golden said. “Obviously, I don’t know where he’ll end up going. Personally, I think he should be close to, like, 10, 12, if I was a NBA GM, but I’m not. We’ll see. But whoever picks him is going to get an incredible value, and then in two years, people are gonna be, ‘How did Walter Clayton drop to that? Why did he go there?’ I’m just telling you right now that’s what’s gonna happen.”
“Because you look at guys like Fred VanVleet, Damian Lillard, like, he’s in that bucket. I’m not saying he’s gonna get there right away,” Golden continued. “But the guy just had the most incredible senior season tournament run, whatever you want to say. He’s got real size, [is an] incredible athlete, elite shooter. I mean, what doesn’t he do? And he just wins all the games, and that matters to some teams, and a team will pick him, and he’ll end up killing it, and people will be like, ‘Why wasn’t [he] higher?’ I’m just telling you right now that’s going to happen.”
The Washington Wizards drafted Clayton 18th overall on June 25, 2025, and sent his rights to the Utah Jazz. On Feb. 3, Utah traded him to Memphis in the deal that sent Jaren Jackson Jr. to the Jazz.
Over 69 games with Utah and Memphis as a rookie, Clayton averaged 7.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists. He shot 38.4% from the field, 30.7% from three, and 90.1% from the free-throw line.
