Florida’s Billy Donovan should take Cavaliers NBA job

Thursday, the Cleveland Cavaliers, owners of yet another first overall NBA draft pick, reportedly contacted Florida Gators head coach Billy Donovan about their coaching vacancy.

After that made news, Donovan came out and squashed the possibilities of him moving to the NBA. He said it was flattering, but he is very happy in Florida. His actual words were “very happy here and I like it here.” It remains to be seen whether the ‘here’ was referring to just Florida or coaching in Florida and coaching in college as well.

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Even though Donovan came out and said he isn’t interested in the Cavs job or any NBA job, that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be.

There are two main factors at play that make this a good fit for each side. For Donovan himself, he’s already a collegiate Hall of Fame coach whenever he decides to stop (or before, since that happens in college for some reason). He’s won close to 500 career games, 451 of which at Florida. He has 35 career NCAA tournament wins, four Final Fours and two national championships. There is nothing more he has to prove or accomplish on the collegiate level.

The second factor for Donovan is the team he would be inheriting, which is what makes this a nice fit for Cleveland as well. The Cavaliers are a very talented team at pretty much every position. They don’t have stars all around, but they have talent. Add in the first pick in this loaded 2014 draft, and the roster looks even better. With that said, their problem for a few years now has been chemistry and defensive effort. Those are two things Donovan knows well.

His Florida clubs have been stellar on the defensive end. And for some reason, despite having future NBA stars, his title teams, and even his top-seeded team from last season, are always remembered as full units. No one player ever stands out because they share the load and responsibility of winning. This isn’t a coincidence.

Donovan can mold a group of players into a team, and he should give it a try at the highest level.