Former Gator Tre Mann traded at NBA deadline

After three years in Oklahoma City, former Gators guard Tre Mann is headed to Charlotte in a trade deadline deal.

Former Florida guard [autotag]Tre Mann[/autotag] was traded from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday, Feb. 8, just ahead of the 3 p.m. trade deadline.

Oklahoma City is acquiring All-Star forward Gordon Hayward in exchange for Mann, guard Vasilije Micic, forward Davis Bertans and two second-round picks. Mann has the highest upside of the group, but he’ll still have to prove himself to break into the rotation.

The former five-star recruit played two seasons with the Gators from 2019-2021. As a sophomore, he led the team averaging 16.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. The Thunder took him with the 18th overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft, and he broke out as a rookie.

Mann started 26 games in 2021-22 and shot 36.0% from three-point range as he averaged 10.4 points a night. That efficiency waned in the 2022-23 season, though. His minutes from 22.8 a night to 17.7, and he finished the season shooting just 31.5% from the distance.

Meanwhile, the Thunder continued to add depth to its guard rotation, forcing Mann out. A trade was the best thing for his career at this point, as Mann was averaging 9.2 minutes per game before being traded.

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Former Gator forward gets two-way deal with Los Angeles Lakers

Two former Gators will share the court for another season now that Alex Fudge has signed a two-way contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Former Florida forward Alex Fudge left school early to start his professional career, and that gamble seems to be paying off. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Fudge and the Los Angeles Lakers have agreed to a two-way contract for the upcoming 2023-24 season.

Fudge signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Lakers as an undrafted free agent, allowing him to play in the NBA Summer League. While he averaged just 2.6 points and 1.4 rebounds over six appearances, Fudge’s one block per game and overall defensive prowess impressed enough to earn the last two-way deal on the roster.

Former Gator center Colin Castleton is also on a two-way deal with the Lakers, so the two will share the court for at least another season.

Fudge transferred to Florida after just one year at LSU. As a sophomore, he averaged 5.8 points and 4.5 rebounds over 32 games and 11 starts. He showed glimpses of elite offensive talent, but his game will likely need some work before being ready for the NBA.

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Former Gator Colin Castleton standing out during NBA Summer League

For The Win’s NBA staff writer Bryan Kalbrosky recently took a look at the top five players in this year’s summer league action.

Former Florida basketball standout Colin Castleton did not hear his name called during the draft back on June 22 but was still able to sign on with the Los Angeles Lakers on an undrafted free agent contract. It appears that the Lakers’ gamble on the ex-Gator was a good one, as the center has performed well during the NBA Summer League schedule.

For The Win’s NBA staff writer Bryan Kalbrosky recently took a look at the top five players in this year’s summer league action, which includes the UF alumnus. The big man has put up numbers similar to what he recorded during college, which bodes well for his future in the league.

After signing a two-way deal with the Lakers, undrafted free agent big man Colin Castleton looked outstanding during summer league.

He averaged 20.6 points, 13.5 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.7 blocks per 40 minutes for Los Angeles. He was 8 of 11 (72.7%) as the roll man during ball screens, per Synergy, and 6 of 8 (75.0%) when cutting to the basket.

His blend of rim protection and offensive playmaking is hard to find.

Castleton is one of just three high-major players on record since 2008 to reach challenging thresholds for assist rate (15.0 percent) and block rate (9.0 percent) in the same season, via Bart Torvik.

He is also one of just three Division I men’s college basketball players on record with at least collegiate 140 assists, 140 blocks and fewer than 200 fouls.

He recorded at least six assists in more than half of his games during summer league for the Lakers.

19.8 percent of his passes led directly to a shot from a teammate at Florida last season. That ranked top-15 among all notable undrafted free agents who played in NBA 2K24 Summer League, per Stats Perform.

Castleton also set 0.13 dribble handoffs per touch last season, also via Stats Perform, which ranked top-15 among notable UDFA as well. These actions give him tremendous value as a connective piece for Los Angeles.

Castleton is just about 6-foot-11-inches in socks and his wingspan is nearly 7-foot-4-inches.

According to Stadium Speak, his closest physical comparisons include Chris Bosh and Mike Muscala.

He could potentially crack the rotation in the frontcourt for the Lakers if they become depleted by any unexpected injuries or if they do not make any more transactions to replenish their frontcourt depth.

The NBA Summer League continues on Monday night as the Houston Rockets take on the Dallas Mavericks at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the final game of the season, starting at 9 p.m. EDT.

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Two former Gators sign with Los Angeles Lakers as UDFA

Two former Gators were scooped up by the Los Angeles Lakers organization after going undrafted.

Neither [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag] nor [autotag]Alex Fudge[/autotag] heard their name called on Thursday night, June 22, as the 2023 NBA draft came and went, but both signed contracts with the Los Angeles Lakers by the end of the night.

Castleton is joining the storied franchise on a two-way contract, which is a guaranteed deal with an NBA franchise to play for its pro team and its G-League affiliate. Dan Woike of the LA Times reported the news first. Although any significant NBA  playing time is unlikely, Castleton can work his way up from the unofficial 16th or 17th spot on the roster.

Fudge is on an Exhibit 10 contract, which can turn into at two-way contact but must be done before the start of the regular season, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. He’ll have less job security than Castleton with the one-year deal not being guaranteed. Fudge can join the team for training camp and will make around $50,000 if he spends more than two months with the G-League affiliate South Bay Lakers.

Both forwards were key pieces of Florida’s starting lineup in 2022-23. Castleton, a fifth-year player who transferred from Michigan after one season, crossed the 1,000-point threshold as a Gator and was a three-time All-SEC forward. His final days in Gainesville were spent on the bench due to injury, though.

Fudge only spent one year at Florida after transferring from LSU. He broke into the starting lineup after injuries forced changes. As a scorer, there’s work to be done, but Fudge is a solid defensive player with incredible athleticism. He’ll put a few players on a poster in the G-League, assuming he gets the chance.

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Former Florida SG Bradley Beal part of major NBA trade deal

Former Gator Bradley Beal is joining up with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker on the Suns in hopes of bringing home The Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy to Phoenix.

After 11 seasons with the Washington Wizards, former Florida shooting guard [autotag]Bradley Beal[/autotag] is headed out West to play with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker in Phoenix, according to ESPN.

Beal signed a five-year extension on his contract with the Wizards last July, which means Phoenix will control him for four years. In return, the Suns are expected to send over a 38-year-old Chris Paul, Landry Shamet and several second-round picks. The Wizards are also moving two additional players in the deal.

Everything isn’t set in stone just yet, but Beal to Phoenix seems fairly locked in. The biggest hurdle right now is finding a third team that wants Paul since the Wizards would likely buy him out. Beal had to waive a no-trade clause to green-light the deal, though, so there shouldn’t be any hold up on his end.

The Suns were already a potent force with Paul, and swapping in Beal should allow the offense to run through Booker or Durant with Deandre Ayton manning the paint.

Beal is turning 30 later this month (June 28), but he averaged 23.2 points on 51% shooting a season ago. He only played 50 games because of injuries, but that’s a large enough sample to pull from. Beal averages 22.1 points per game on his career and was over 30.0 from 2019-21.

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Florida hoops legend Udonis Haslem headed back to NBA Finals

Udonis Haslem is retiring at the end of the season, but the Florida legend is looking to close things out on a high note as the Miami Heat face the Denver Nuggets in the 2023 NBA Finals.

It’s been more than two decades since Udonis Haslem donned the Orange and Blue, but they say “Once a Gator, always a Gator,” right?

Well, the former Gator is making all of Gainesville (and the state of Florida) proud by reaching the NBA Finals for a seventh time with the Miami Heat – the team he’s spent his entire 20-year career with.

Sure, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Jimmy Butler have all been the faces of the various Heat teams, but Haslem is the constant – the glue, if you will – that every late millennial and Gen Z Miami fan has come to adore. He is the longest-tenured player in franchise history after all.

So, what should Heat and Gators fans expect from Haslem in what will be his final series as a member of the NBA? Not a lot. Haslem is a player mentor of sorts now that has played just two minutes throughout the team’s 18 playoff games.

He got his retirement game back in April when he dropped 24 points, which is as a good of a swan song as any.

The book is closing on UD’s career, and boy would it be nice to see him ride off into the sunset with a fourth championship to his name. While he might not be the most talented Gator to ever make it to the pros, Haslem’s legacy will likely never be forgotten in the state of Florida.

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Gator great Udonis Haslem scores 24 points in final NBA regular-season game

Tip of the cap to Udonis Haslem for going out in style.

All good things must come to an end the adage says and for former Florida center Udonis Haslem, his 20-year run in the National Basketball Association finally came to a close on Sunday against the Orlando Magic. He put up 24 points in 25 minutes for the Miami Heat in the final game of the regular season.

While the 6-foot-8-inch frontcourt bruiser never earned any significant personal accolades, he was a part of three championship-winning teams during his two-decade tenure with the only NBA team that he ever played for. Haslem’s court time diminished precipitously in the final seven years of his career but he still found ways to contribute both on and off the court.

“I’m going to miss his spirit,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said according to ESPN. “I’m going to miss his voice. I’m going to miss his intentions. He has incredible, pure, team intentions. Every single day. He doesn’t have a bad day. He may express himself with anger other times at his teammates or even with me, but his intentions are pure.

“He doesn’t have bad days, there’s not a moodiness, he doesn’t come in with any kind of baggage. It’s pure. It’s always about winning. How can he help somebody else? How can he help the team? How can he help mentor? That’s what keeps his mind going constantly.”

Haslem went undrafted in the 2002 NBA draft and opted to play in France with Chalon-Sur-Saône of the French LNB Pro A to kick off his professional career. He arrived across the pond weighing nearly 300 pounds but managed to shed 50 of those pounds over the course of eight months, opening the door for a return to the States.

The Heat signed him as a free agent ahead of the 2003 season and Haslem participated in numerous rookie events, ultimately earning NBA All-Rookie Second Team honors. And the rest, as they say, is history.

The Gators alumnus played in 879 career NBA games — starting 501 of them — averaging 7.5 points on 48.9% shooting from the floor and 6.6 rebounds per game for the Heat.

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Former Gator Tre Mann notches first career triple-double at any level

Tre Mann recorded his first career triple-double ever at any level of competition on Sunday for the Thunder.

It has been a couple of years since former Florida guard Tre Mann departed Gainesville for the National Basketball Association, where he currently serves as a backup on the Oklahoma City Thunder. On Sunday night against the Memphis Grizzlies with both teams primarily playing their reserves in the regular-season finale, the erstwhile Gator notched his first-ever triple-double at any level of competition.

Mann finished with 24 points on 9-for-16 shooting from the field, along with 12 assists and 12 rebounds in 47 minutes of court time. As a reward for his efforts, his teammates drenched him in cold water and Gatorade — a fitting finish for the former Florida standout.

“I seen it coming but I didn’t know they were going to keep coming,” Mann joked, vowing revenge. “I’ll get them back though.”

The feat caps off a rough campaign for Mann, who appeared in 67 games with five starts while averaging 17.7 minutes per game. For the 2022-23 season, he averaged 7.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 0.7 steals per game in his year in OKC.

“It was a tough year for me obviously, but I just focus day-to-day trying to get better,” Mann said, “I am a better player than I was last year, just didn’t get to show it this year.”

The Thunder are mired with the 10th seed in the upcoming NBA playoffs while the Grizzlies are way up at the second seed. The ninth-seeded Pelicans lost, which means they will host the Thunder in their play-in tournament game on Wednesday, April 12, on ESPN.

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Former Gator included in Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving trade

Dorian Finney-Smith is heading to Brooklyn!

The hottest news on the NBA trade hot stove is the Brooklyn Nets‘ exchange with the Dallas Mavericks sending star guard Kyrie Irving to Texas while taking back multiple pieces on Sunday. The former Duke standout has been surrounded by controversy for quite some time, most recently involving his endorsement of a film that promoted a far-fringe anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that irked the denizens of New York’s popular borough.

The Nets traded Irving to the Mavs for former Gators forward [autotag]Dorian Finney-Smith[/autotag] along with Spencer Dinwiddie, a first-round pick and multiple second-round picks, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

The former Florida forward averaged 9.1 points along with 4.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists, one steal and 0.9 blocks per game so far during the 2022-23 campaign. Over his seven-year career — all with the Mavericks — the 6-foot-7-inch, 220-pound frontcourt player averaged 8.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.4 blocks per game.

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Former Gator Bradley Beal a free agency winner per CBS Sports

Bradley Beal just got paid, son.

There are not a whole lot of former Florida basketball players in the NBA currently but lately a few familiar names have made the news, including one-and-done guard [autotag]Bradley Beal[/autotag], who recently signed a massive contract extension with the Washington Wizards.

The third overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft — second-highest only to the legendary Neal Walk and tied with current Boston Celtic Al Horford —spent his first 10 years in the nation’s capital and cemented his standing there with a five-year, $251 million contract that will likely lock him in for the remainder of his career.

Or will it? CBS Sports’ staff writer Brad Botkin put together a look at the NBA’s free agency action after the opening day, including Beal’s monster extension. Botkin is not quite so sure the contract will tether the prolific scorer to the shores of the Potomac, as he explains in his excerpt on the former Gator below.

I still bet he gets traded before that contract expires, but by signing with Washington, which owns his Bird rights, he guaranteed himself a fifth guaranteed year, which will equate to about $57 million extra in his bank. That goes with him even if he does get traded. I’d bet good money that Beal winds up having his cake and eating it too, eventually ending up on a contender while also signing the biggest deal possible.

Beal is just a single season separated from a two-year stretch in which he averaged over 30 points a game in the NBA (30.5 ppg in 2019-20 and 31.3 ppg in 2020-21) — the first former Gators to achieve that feat. Unfortunately, he was outgunned by future Hall of Famers James Harden (34.3) in the former and Stephen Curry (32.0) in the latter season for the scoring title.

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