One of the main offseason storylines that followed Florida for a couple of weeks was the rumored pursuit of other college basketball blue bloods trying to lure Todd Golden away from Gainesville. The rumors never made it very far, and once the dust settled, Golden was still with the Gators.
But now a new threat has emerged to poach Golden, and this one might have a chance at gaining more traction than some of the rumored ones from a month ago.
Golden State Warriors might go after Todd Golden
Yahoo Sports dropped a report on Monday night that indicated if Steve Kerr were stepping down as the coach of the Golden State Warriors, the franchise is expected to pursue Golden as their top target.
Golden State had its season end after losing to Phoenix in the play-in round of the playoffs, and there has been a ton of speculation about Kerr’s future. Kerr was heard saying after the Warriors' loss last Friday, "I don't know what's going to happen next, but I love you guys to death. Thank you."
Golden, of course, is from the West Coast and was the coach at San Francisco prior to coming to Florida. According to Yahoo Sports, the owners of the Warriors “have a relationship” with Golden from those three years he was with San Francisco.
So about that contract extension
The belief with Golden has always been that he will want to pursue an NBA career one day. It’s the same allure that eventually convinced Billy Donovan to leave town. We would make the case that the grass isn’t always greener in the NBA, but the contracts NBA coaches can command would dwarf anything the Gators could pay Golden. Kerr, for example, has been making an average of $17.5 million per year on his latest deal.
Whether or not Golden would actually be interested in Golden State, this report does bring a couple of tidbits back into focus.
The first is the bold declaration that Scott Stricklin made last month as rumors swirled with Golden being pursued by other blue bloods. It was reported that Stricklin was trying to get a contract extension done with Golden, and he publicly stated, “Todd wants to be at the University of Florida. I wish all those [other] programs really good luck. I'm sure they'll find a good coach out there, and I'm glad Todd's going to be here for a long time."
So, um, where exactly is that extension?
Because the other notable part is Golden’s current contract, which had a massive buyout if he were to leave for another college program but has a significantly lower buyout if he were to take an NBA job.
To make this clear, if Golden were to leave for Golden State, that’s not on Stricklin, as much as we tend to pile on Florida’s AD. As stated, pretty much everyone around Golden seems to believe his ultimate goal is to be in the NBA.
It is, however, a potential stumbling block for a team that has the potential to be the preseason No. 1 to start the 2026-27 season.
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