The 2026 NBA Draft has come and gone, and former Florida Gator guard Xaivian Lee went undrafted but signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers. DraftExpress first reported Lee’s signing.
An Exhibit 10 deal is a one-year, non-guaranteed, minimum-salary training camp deal.
While hoping to have his name called at the draft, Lee wasn’t even invited to the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago, but participated once more in the NBA’s G League Elite Camp — a miniature combine for former collegiate players invited to participate in Chicago before the NBA Draft Combine.
The three-day camp provided draft prospects the opportunity to showcase their talent in front of NBA and NBA G League scouts, coaches, and front-office executives. Participants partake in five-on-five games as well as strength and agility drills, to test players’ physical attributes and skills.
Only a select few of players from the draft-eligible group earned invitations to the NBA Draft Combine later in the week; Lee was not one of the five players invited to attend the combine. However, he did previously compete in the G League Combine in 2024, but ultimately decided to return to college basketball.
Lee also played in the Portsmouth Invitational and showed promise in his debut. Lee scored a game-high 25 points on 7-for-12 shooting, with five rebounds, three assists and three steals in 28 minutes to his team to a 104-95 victory and earning him Player of the Game honors.
Last season with the Gators, Lee averaged 11.6 points and poured in a team-high in assists with 147, while starting all 35 games for the SEC champions, a program that secured back-to-back No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history. Florida’s postseason run ended in a disappointing upset to No. 9 seed Iowa in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Lee’s rise is special, from an Ivy League standout to an SEC champion.
Lee had a small role coming in as a true freshman at Princeton, but quickly improved over the next two seasons. He became a standout and fan favorite for the program, leading Lee to earn back-to-back unanimous first-team All-Ivy League selections.
In the season before transferring to Florida, Lee averaged 16.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 43.9% from the floor and an impressive 36.6% from three-point range. Lee’s long-range shooting numbers ultimately declined during his season at UF, but he was repeatedly praised for his ability to get to the basket and finish around the rim, while also being a solid defender.
“I think he’s really good with the ball. I think we’ve started putting him in better spots offensively, where he’s playing more downhill and playing in more space, which I think is important,” UF head coach Todd Golden said of Lee ahead of SEC play.
After going undrafted, Lee will look to prove himself with the Cavaliers to land a two-way roster spot with the Cavaliers.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Xaivian Lee signs Exhibit 10 contract with Cleveland Cavaliers
