ORLANDO, Fla. -- So Billy Donovan is headed to the NBA, chasing the challenge -- and the money -- that comes with coaching at the highest level.
If you're surprised, you should really start paying attention. Because things have been headed in this direction for a while now, ever since the man who led Florida to back-to-back national titles rejected the opportunity to move to Kentucky.
Back on that April morning, Gator fans celebrated.
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| Billy Donovan walks into an ideal situation in the NBA's East. (AP) |
Congratulations, Florida fans.
You're keeping your coach ... for two years, tops.
That's my guess, and it's an educated guess. Because I don't believe Billy Donovan necessarily chose Florida over Kentucky Thursday morning. I think he chose the NBA over Kentucky, meaning he has visions of the next level -- just like Al Horford, Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer and Taurean Green.
That was the lead to a column penned here the moment Donovan announced he was not taking the Kentucky job. It was an opinion met with skepticism, but anybody familiar with Donovan understood he was destined to be something bigger than second-fiddle on a football-dominated campus, meaning it was clear when he passed on the chance to rule Rupp Arena that he was focused on becoming an NBA coach whenever the perfect opportunity presented itself.
Which leads us to Orlando.
Walt Donovanland, if you will.
In agreeing to succeed Brian Hill, Donovan inherits an ideal situation (the likes of which were outlined here last week). He needs only to move his family 115 miles from Gainesville, and it's likely he'll have a new arena in which to work the magic -- his Magic -- he's long displayed, the stuff that made it sensible for a seemingly aimless franchise to throw more than $5 million per year on the table.
Beyond that, he's in the Eastern Conference.
Do you understand how much easier that makes things?
Granted, Donovan will have to deal with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Gilbert Arenas. But most every other marquee player in the NBA -- Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan, Carmelo Anthony, etc. -- is on the other side of the country, leaving a 21-year-old star named Dwight Howard who averaged 17.6 points and 12.3 rebounds per game this season as one of the premier building blocks in the East. Add a complementary player here, a role player there, and Donovan could have the Magic competing for a conference title in two or three years.
Howard is that good.
About as good as this opportunity is for Donovan.
So while there are certainly Florida fans who won't understand the move, it's probably about the simplest decision a successful college coach yearning to scratch an NBA itch has ever made. Donovan is more than doubling his salary, barely relocating his family and seizing control of a young star in a conference where it won't take much more to be very good very quickly given the lack of stars elsewhere.
Bottom line, it wasn't stupid to leave Florida.
It would've actually been silly to stay.
