Utah Jazz's Walt Clayton Jr. Receives New Injury Status

The Utah Jazz finished up their first night in Las Vegas on Friday with a loss against the Charlotte Hornets, 105-111, marking down their first loss of the summer after a 3-0 start during their time in the Salt Lake City Summer League.

But, perhaps more importantly to come out of this one, Jazz rookie guard Walt Clayton Jr. went down with a hamstring injury in the fourth quarter, effectively taking him out of the action for the rest of the way, and putting a question mark as to how his availability may look going forward in Vegas.

Jazz confirm Clayton has a hamstring injury, he's not coming back in these last 15 seconds.
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) July 12, 2025

During his night vs. Charlotte, Clayton Jr. had one of his best performances of the summer, finishing with 21 points, along with six rebounds, and three assists–– tying with Cody Williams as the second-leading scorer of the contest, trailing behind Kyle Filipowski's statement 32-point performance

For Clayton Jr., it's not something to sound off any major alarms, but inevitably will be another layer to add to the Jazz's injury report for their time in Vegas. Utah has already seen other rookies in Ace Bailey and John Tonje be sidelined with their respective injuries against the Hornets, and now, their third name selected in last month's draft has gone down with a minor scratch.

the rook's lookin' like a vet in traffic 🚗#TakeNote | @w1clayton pic.twitter.com/O8C3qS7geo
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) July 11, 2025

Especially when considering how cautious the Jazz have tended to be with their fifth-overall pick in Bailey and his recent hip injury, to see Utah opt to be a bit conservative with their rookie talent again might not be the biggest surprise with just over 48 hours to prepare until the next game.

It remains to be seen if Clayton Jr. will be good to go on Sunday vs. the Golden State Warriors, but it'll certainly be a situation worth watching until tip-off.

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