Brooklyn Nets Draft Notebook: Florida Gators Win NCAA Tournament

The NCAA season is officially over, with the Florida Gators defeating the Houston Cougars 65-63 in a nail-biter national championship game also featuring a handful of NBA Draft prospects for the Brooklyn Nets to evaluate.

Walter Clayton Jr. will shoot up draft boards following his March Madness. He was a sniper from three all tournament long, but his numbers all season have been great. If anything, he had a much quieter game against Houston, with just 11 points on 3-for-10 from the field and 1-for-7 from three, but seven assists and five rebounds. Clayton’s distribution as a point guard slants more towards scoring than passing, but he’s a capable playmaker out of ball screens and in transition.

Any comparisons to Stephen Curry or ‘Wade Cunningham’ are off-base, but Clayton can probably be a sparkplug guard in the NBA, and his statistical profile looks similar to Payton Pritchard’s. If Clayton's stock skyrockets or the draft continues to lose depth, the Nets have the No. 18 pick. He’d provide the team with more shooting off the bounce. Otherwise, there are two opportunities later in the first with Nos. 26 and 27. Those now feel too late for Clayton, though. One option for Brooklyn is to turn its four first-rounders into some other sort of configuration in the draft's top 30.

Florida sophomore Alex Condon finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, four steals and four turnovers. He had his spurts scoring as a roller and in transition, but plenty of frustrating and avoidable moments. Too often, it feels like the Australian big’s default setting is turning to, or forcing, a dribble handoff. Subsequently, when he rolls to the basket, Condon rarely just goes in a straight line. He’ll generally attempt to transition into a post-up, even in constrained/short spaces. In turn, Condon doesn’t get the most from his athleticism, which should be more functional.

The Gators prospect fits what head coach Jordi Fernández likes from his bigs in terms of playing around the elbows or getting touches above the break and flowing into handoffs. If anything, Condon is too comfortable doing that. However, he might still lack enough versatility and offensive skill to thrive in the NBA. Condon is young and can still return to Florida, but he’d probably be an option for the Nets’ Nos. 26 and 27 picks.

His frontcourt partner Thomas Haugh was a real March Madness breakout story. The Gators sophomore was a +28 over Florida's last three games, per Evan Miyakawa of EvanMiya CBB Analytics, and he was typically solid on both ends against Houston. Over the entire tournament, Haugh drilled his catch-and-shoot threes, made reliable decisions off the catch and defended wings and forwards alike. He had five points, five rebounds, three assists and one block on Monday night. Another season in college on higher volume and a more focal role could elevate Haugh’s stock even more; otherwise, the same range as Condon feels right.

Alijah Martin is an off-ball guard who dunks a lot, plays bigger than his generously listed height of 6-foot-2 on both sides of the ball and is a willing but only okay spot-up shooter. Martin just finished his fifth season of college, his first at Florida after transferring in from FAU. Martin's upside is likely limited due to his age, size and player profile — a diminutive guard whose NBA reps probably resemble more of a wing and who has a subpar history finishing at the rim — but he’s an NBA vertical athlete with years of college production. The NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement is resulting in teams prioritizing older draft picks, particularly later in or even outside the draft, who can be short-term contributors on relatively low money.

Maybe Martin can be an undrafted free agent target for the Nets. He resembles Reece Beekman because of his on-ball defense and size, and Keon Johnson because of his streaky shooting, shaky on-ball skills for a guard and leaping ability. Brooklyn’s No. 36 pick feels too high for him. His teammate Will Richard is another interesting target after the draft. He takes catch-and-shoot threes, finishes at the basket at a high clip and makes few bad decisions with the ball. However, he’s in an almost ideal team context and operating on very low usage as is for a college player.