Australian Alex Condon Climbs NBA Draft Boards, Impacting AFL Team

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Australian forward Alex Condon is quickly rising up NBA draft boards and it could be bad news for the Collingwood Magpies.

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Condon, who is enjoying a breakout season as a sophomore for the Florida Gators, signed with Collingwood as a category B rookie late last year.

Tom Morris reported at the time that the Magpies were paying Condon for several months on the chance he didn’t get drafted to the NBA, in which case they would land the former West Australian under-18 ruckman who was considered a “top-five draft prospect” in 2022.

As part of the deal, it was agreed that if Condon was selected by an NBA team the contract he signed with Collingwood would be voided and it is looking increasingly likely that will happen.

Condon’s impressive form at Florida has seen him surge into first-round calculations according to ESPN draft expert Jonathan Givony.

In Givony’s latest mock draft along with colleague Jeremy Woo, which was released on Thursday morning, the pair had Condon joining fellow Australian Dyson Daniels at the Atlanta Hawks with the 26th overall pick.

Givony noted there is a possibility Condon stays in college another year, with the aim of becoming a lottery pick in the 2026 draft.

“But his impactful two-way play is becoming increasingly hard for NBA scouts to look past,” Givony added.

Condon’s emergence comes after he earned SEC Player of the Week honours, having averaged 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists in Florida’s wins over Vanderbilt and No. 1 Auburn.

The Perth native’s sophomore season almost came to a crushing end when he went down with what appeared to be a serious ankle injury early in Wednesday’s game against Mississippi State.

Fortunately for Condon, X-Rays came back negative and he was instead diagnosed with a right ankle sprain.

While Condon’s ability to consistently crash the glass and play hard defence has made him a tone-setter for the Gators, he has also flashed improved playmaking in his second season while also showing an ability to shoot the three-ball.

Condon’s breakout isn’t all that surprising in some ways given how productive he was as a freshman, averaging 7.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.

But the Australian only had offers from Saint Mary’s and Utah on the table along with Florida, so even head coach Todd Golden admitted to being surprised by Condon’s progress in his first season with the Gators.

“We thought we got a really good player when we signed him but we weren’t necessarily expecting an All-SEC Freshman or a guy who played 20 minutes a game,” Golden said at SEC Media Day last year.

“So, I think he out-kicked our expectations that way.”

The challenge for Condon though was to take his game to another level in his sophomore season, with the Australian earning a starting role.

It has been a big year for Condon. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

“We’re building around him and Walter (Clayton) and Alijah (Martin) and Will (Richard). The expectation for him is going to go up a lot,” Golden added.

“He’s going to start for us this year, so he’s going to be a little higher on the scouting report… we’re asking a lot more out of him. For me, my expectation is simple: I expect him to play his tail off every night.”

Golden went on to describe Condon’s competitiveness as “unique”, adding that it was never a matter of how many points the Australian scored or what his field goal percentage was like.

“As long as he’s playing winning basketball for us, he’s going to be just fine,” Golden said.

“He’s a guy who, I’m not going to put a timetable on it, but I’m pretty confident he’s going to play at the next level at some point.”

That looks to be the case based on Condon’s rising draft stocks, with Givony describing the Australian’s ballhandling for a big man as “excellent” and his basketball instincts as “sharp”.

“Condon is playing an essential role for the No. 3-ranked Gators, as evidenced by his outstanding performance this past weekend, outplaying potential national player of the year candidate Johni Broome in a win at Auburn,” Givony wrote.

“The Australian big man acts as a significant playmaking hub in Florida’s offense with his excellent ballhandling and passing ability while covering ground fluidly defensively and making plays with his mobility and sharp basketball instincts.”

Alex Condon shoots a free throw during the game between Japan and Australia. (Photo by Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

Condon played Australian rules football until he was 16 years old, when he transitioned to full-time basketball with the comfort in knowing that he could always switch back if the college pathway didn’t work out.

Condon, who won gold with Western Australia at the 2023 U20 Men’s National Championships, also played a pair of exhibition games for the Boomers in June and could be Australia’s big man of the future.