Insiders boost Florida basketball's repeat chances after NBA Draft decisions
The Florida basketball team just won the national championship last month, and now the Gators are thinking about how they can do it again next season. There were a lot of question marks regarding what kind of talent Florida would get back for next season, and after the NBA Draft withdraw deadline, the team appears to be in great shape.
Advertisement
From big-time transfers choosing the Florida basketball team to guys like Alex Condon deciding to return, the offseason is off to a great start. In fact, ESPN's Jeff Borzello tabbed the Gators as one of the biggest winners from the NBA Draft withdraw deadline.
'Florida was one,' Borzello said. 'There were other winners, certainly — including Houston (Milos Uzan), Michigan (Lendeborg), Auburn (Tahaad Pettiford) and Kentucky (Otega Oweh) — but the Gators went from a borderline top-20 team to a legitimate contender to open the season as the No. 1 team with a real chance to win back-to-back titles. Florida was the beneficiary of Fland's withdrawal, as the Arkansas transfer ultimately committed to the Gators a week after making his decision. Then Alex Condon, a fringe first-round pick, also withdrew to return to Gainesville. With both officially in the fold, coach Todd Golden has as good a starting five as there is in college basketball.'
This Florida basketball team isn't going to be the same as it was last year, and other players are going to have to step up. However, the pieces are there for the Gators to once again contend for a national championship.
'As I mentioned above, Florida ascends into the preseason No. 1 conversation as a result of their decisions. The Gators have a different roster construction from a year ago, when there were more clearly defined roles and arguably better balance and depth throughout the roster. But now Golden has two shot creators and shotmakers in [Boogie] Fland and Princeton transfer Xaivian Lee in the backcourt, and one of the best — certainly the biggest — frontcourt in the country with 6-11 Condon, 6-9 Thomas Haugh, 6-10 Rueben Chinyeluand 7-1 Micah Handlogten handling the lion's share of minutes.'
It can be hard to keep players around after winning it all as some guys like to go out on top, but Florida has done a great job getting some of its best talent to return to Gainesville. On top of that, the Gators landed a couple of the best players in the transfer portal. All in all, it has been a successful offseason so far, and Florida has the talent to win another national championship.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
16 minutes ago
- USA Today
Boston Celtics waive recently-crowned G League MVP JD Davison
According to a league source, the Celtics are waiving guard JD the G League MVP, is no longer eligible for a two-way contract with the Cs but could sign one elsewhere or compete for a roster now have one open spot, but no move imminent. The Boston Celtics have waived JD Davison. The 22-year-old guard, who was named as the 2025 G-League MVP, will now become an unrestricted free agent and will be free to sign with any team in the NBA. Davison spent three seasons with the Boston Celtics, with all three of them coming on a two-way deal (except for the final few weeks of the 2024-25 season, where he signed a full-scale NBA contract). As such, Davison is ineligible to sign another two-way contract with Boston, but is free to do so with another franchise. By waiving Davison, the Celtics have ducked under the second luxury tax apron while also opening up a roster spot. However, more moves will need to be made if Boston wishes to completely avoid the second apron. Davison was drafted with the 53rd pick in the 2022 NBA draft. He's played in a total of 36 regular-season games for the Celtics, averaging 1.9 points per game on 38.5% shooting from the field and 28.1% from 3-point range. Before entering the NBA, Davison was a one-and-done prospect out of Alabama, where he played in 33 games, averaging 8.5 points, 4.3 assists and 4.8 rebounds per outing. After showcasing his skills in the G League in recent years, he now needs to land with a roster that can provide him with legitimate playing time, so that he can continue to develop his game against high-level competition. Unfortunately, that role wasn't going to be available for him on the Celtics, even with the current roster retooling that's taking place. Watch the "Taylor Talks Celtics" podcast on: YouTube: Website:
Boston Globe
16 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Celtics waive guard JD Davison
The Celtics now have one open roster spot, but they are not required to fill it, and the source said that no other moves are imminent. Advertisement The Celtics selected Davison, 22, with the 53rd overall pick of the 2022 NBA Draft. He appeared in just 36 games over three seasons, averaging 1.9 points and 0.9 assists. He starred for the Celtics' G League affiliate in Maine this past season, averaging 25.6 points, 7.7 assists, and 5.1 rebounds en route to MVP honors. In April, Davison's two-way contract was converted to a standard NBA deal. Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Nets' Egor Demin voted as biggest reach of the 2025 NBA Draft
The Brooklyn Nets made one of the more shocking moves in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft when they decided to take BYU G Egor Demin with the eighth overall pick. Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks has maintained that the team was interested in the potential of Demin as a bigger point guard, but other front-office personnel don't see the vision. "Even if you believe in [Demin] as a starting NBA point guard -- and I don't -- it seems like he would've been gettable at the end of the lottery, or even later," an Eastern Conference executive said of Demin, per ESPN's Jeremy Woo. Woo conducted a survey of 20 "anonymous NBA executives and scouts" asking for their opinion on the 2025 rookie class, including the biggest reach. "Brooklyn held five first-round picks and ultimately made and rostered all five of them, enabling a strategy that led to several swings on playmaking prospects, including Demin," Woo wrote while discussing why the Nets would take a chance on Demin. "At 6-foot-9, Demin has excellent passing skills but was divisive for teams all season as he dealt with ups and downs adjusting to college basketball at BYU." Demin, 19, is coming off a 2025 NBA Las Vegas Summer League in which he did not put up gaudy numbers, but answered some questions surrounding his shooting ability to play off the ball. Demin played three games during the summer league and averaged 11.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game while shooting 40.7% from the field and 43.5% from three-point land. Demin received seven votes among executives for the biggest reach of the 2025 Draft, followed by Portland Trail Blazers center Yang Hansen (four votes) and Memphis Grizzlies guard Cedric Coward (three). While Demin is regarded as a reach, it's still too early to be sure of his career. One scout that spoke to Woo echoed that sentiment by saying that he didn't cast his vote because "If [your] team believed in the guy, then take your guy," per Woo.
