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In June 2009, two days before the NBA draft, Warriors general manager Larry Riley received a tip from what he calls “a pretty reliable source” that, if true, would be huge for his team.

At the time, the Warriors were mired in a dark era. Other than a blip in 2007, Golden State had missed the postseason every year for the better part of two decades. “I felt like we had to hit on that draft pick,” says Riley.
...
“With the fifth pick in the 2009 NBA draft,” David Stern said, “the Minnesota Timberwolves select . . . Ricky Rubio.”

In Oakland, Riley and his team exhaled. They’d also liked Rubio, but not as much as Curry. It was the next pick, No. 6, that mattered.

Then the phone rang. It was the league office, alerting the Warriors they were on the clock.

The Timberwolves are picking Jonny Flynn.

Baseline81 wrote:Why do you, as a Wolves fan, need to bring this up? We constantly hear this from other fanbases.

shrink wrote:Thanks for the link Calinks. I wouldn’t have found this article if you hadn’t posted.

I read the intro, and I am very skeptical that Warriors GM Larry Reilly actually had Steph at #2 on his draft board. Blake Griffin, Tyreke Evans, Rubio (mocked at #3), and Harden all looked like much better prospects than Curry at the time. Remember, Steph was under-sized, there were questions whether he could play PG, he hadn’t played much competition at Davidson, and he also had recurring injuries. And if Reilly really had Steph at #2, why was he so worried about what MIN would do at #5 and #6?

For MIN, there was an additional reason to not draft Steph - he had let it be known he didn’t want to come here.

Now, I give Curry tremendous credit for overcoming all the naysayers, and becoming a revolutionary player that truly changed the game. And Kahn deserves a ton of blame for making such a big reach for Jonny Flynn at #6 .. it was as bad a pick as MEM made at #2 with Hasheem Thabeet. But when we look back in hindsight at that draft, it is often seen as a “no-brainer” to pick Steph at #6, and I don’t think that’s true. If he had picked DeRozan, who went #9, I don’t think people would still focus so much on this draft, 15 years later.

shrink wrote:Thanks for the link Calinks. I wouldn’t have found this article if you hadn’t posted.

I read the intro, and I am very skeptical that Warriors GM Larry Reilly actually had Steph at #2 on his draft board. Blake Griffin, Tyreke Evans, Rubio (mocked at #3), and Harden all looked like much better prospects than Curry at the time. Remember, Steph was under-sized, there were questions whether he could play PG, he hadn’t played much competition at Davidson, and he also had recurring injuries. And if Reilly really had Steph at #2, why was he so worried about what MIN would do at #5 and #6?

For MIN, there was an additional reason to not draft Steph - he had let it be known he didn’t want to come here.

Now, I give Curry tremendous credit for overcoming all the naysayers, and becoming a revolutionary player that truly changed the game. And Kahn deserves a ton of blame for making such a big reach for Jonny Flynn at #6 .. it was as bad a pick as MEM made at #2 with Hasheem Thabeet. But when we look back in hindsight at that draft, it is often seen as a “no-brainer” to pick Steph at #6, and I don’t think that’s true. If he had picked DeRozan, who went #9, I don’t think people would still focus so much on this draft, 15 years later.

wolves_89 wrote:David Kahn's draft history has got to rate as one of the worst in NBA history. Over 3 years he went into the drafts with 8 total 1st round picks that resulted in 1 starting caliber player (Rubio). Here's a summary of the amazing awfulness that was Kahn.

2009
#5 Ricky Rubio
#6 Johnny Flynn (bust, in the running for worst pick in NBA history)
#28 Wayne Ellington (never really contributed to the Wolves)

2010
#4 Wes Johnson (bust, passed on Cousins)
#16 Luke Babbitt (traded for Martell Webster who already had a back injury)
#23 Trevor Booker (traded for #30 Lazar Hayward (bust) and a 2nd)

2011
#2 Derrick Williams (bust)
#20 Donatas Motiejūnas (traded in what became a series of 5 trades that seemed to have the sole purpose of generating cash)

A1FromDay1 wrote:

wolves_89 wrote:David Kahn's draft history has got to rate as one of the worst in NBA history. Over 3 years he went into the drafts with 8 total 1st round picks that resulted in 1 starting caliber player (Rubio). Here's a summary of the amazing awfulness that was Kahn.

2009
#5 Ricky Rubio
#6 Johnny Flynn (bust, in the running for worst pick in NBA history)
#28 Wayne Ellington (never really contributed to the Wolves)

2010
#4 Wes Johnson (bust, passed on Cousins)
#16 Luke Babbitt (traded for Martell Webster who already had a back injury)
#23 Trevor Booker (traded for #30 Lazar Hayward (bust) and a 2nd)

2011
#2 Derrick Williams (bust)
#20 Donatas Motiejūnas (traded in what became a series of 5 trades that seemed to have the sole purpose of generating cash)

I remember Derrick Williams being a consensus #2 pick with some mock drafts even having him at #1. I don't see how that's on Kahn. Same with Cousins, nobody had him over Wes, and I don't regret it one bit.

wolves_89 wrote:

A1FromDay1 wrote:

wolves_89 wrote:David Kahn's draft history has got to rate as one of the worst in NBA history. Over 3 years he went into the drafts with 8 total 1st round picks that resulted in 1 starting caliber player (Rubio). Here's a summary of the amazing awfulness that was Kahn.

2009
#5 Ricky Rubio
#6 Johnny Flynn (bust, in the running for worst pick in NBA history)
#28 Wayne Ellington (never really contributed to the Wolves)

2010
#4 Wes Johnson (bust, passed on Cousins)
#16 Luke Babbitt (traded for Martell Webster who already had a back injury)
#23 Trevor Booker (traded for #30 Lazar Hayward (bust) and a 2nd)

2011
#2 Derrick Williams (bust)
#20 Donatas Motiejūnas (traded in what became a series of 5 trades that seemed to have the sole purpose of generating cash)

I remember Derrick Williams being a consensus #2 pick with some mock drafts even having him at #1. I don't see how that's on Kahn. Same with Cousins, nobody had him over Wes, and I don't regret it one bit.

There was a lot of talk about trading the #2 pick in 2011 since Williams played the same position as Kevin Love. Unfortunately, Kahn kept the pick and as you said Williams pretty much had to be drafted at that point. I don't blame Kahn for drafting Williams, I blame him for not making a deal when it was obviously a poor fit.

As far as Cousins, I remember the general consensus as having him clearly above Johnson in the draft rankings (every big board still available for 2010 that I could find shows that).

TimberKat wrote:

wolves_89 wrote:

A1FromDay1 wrote:
I remember Derrick Williams being a consensus #2 pick with some mock drafts even having him at #1. I don't see how that's on Kahn. Same with Cousins, nobody had him over Wes, and I don't regret it one bit.

There was a lot of talk about trading the #2 pick in 2011 since Williams played the same position as Kevin Love. Unfortunately, Kahn kept the pick and as you said Williams pretty much had to be drafted at that point. I don't blame Kahn for drafting Williams, I blame him for not making a deal when it was obviously a poor fit.

As far as Cousins, I remember the general consensus as having him clearly above Johnson in the draft rankings (every big board still available for 2010 that I could find shows that).

Yes, He got unlucky with Williams and should had traded the pick. Cousins was ahead but we also had Beasley on the team at that time. Drafting Cousins would be an absolute nightmare for the locker room.

A1FromDay1 wrote:

wolves_89 wrote:David Kahn's draft history has got to rate as one of the worst in NBA history. Over 3 years he went into the drafts with 8 total 1st round picks that resulted in 1 starting caliber player (Rubio). Here's a summary of the amazing awfulness that was Kahn.

2009
#5 Ricky Rubio
#6 Johnny Flynn (bust, in the running for worst pick in NBA history)
#28 Wayne Ellington (never really contributed to the Wolves)

2010
#4 Wes Johnson (bust, passed on Cousins)
#16 Luke Babbitt (traded for Martell Webster who already had a back injury)
#23 Trevor Booker (traded for #30 Lazar Hayward (bust) and a 2nd)

2011
#2 Derrick Williams (bust)
#20 Donatas Motiejūnas (traded in what became a series of 5 trades that seemed to have the sole purpose of generating cash)

I remember Derrick Williams being a consensus #2 pick with some mock drafts even having him at #1. I don't see how that's on Kahn. Same with Cousins, nobody had him over Wes, and I don't regret it one bit.

wolves_89 wrote:David Kahn's draft history has got to rate as one of the worst in NBA history. Over 3 years he went into the drafts with 8 total 1st round picks that resulted in 1 starting caliber player (Rubio). Here's a summary of the amazing awfulness that was Kahn.

2009
#5 Ricky Rubio
#6 Johnny Flynn (bust, in the running for worst pick in NBA history)
#28 Wayne Ellington (never really contributed to the Wolves)

2010
#4 Wes Johnson (bust, passed on Cousins)
#16 Luke Babbitt (traded for Martell Webster who already had a back injury)
#23 Trevor Booker (traded for #30 Lazar Hayward (bust) and a 2nd)

2011
#2 Derrick Williams (bust)
#20 Donatas Motiejūnas (traded in what became a series of 5 trades that seemed to have the sole purpose of generating cash)

Baseline81 wrote:

A1FromDay1 wrote:

wolves_89 wrote:David Kahn's draft history has got to rate as one of the worst in NBA history. Over 3 years he went into the drafts with 8 total 1st round picks that resulted in 1 starting caliber player (Rubio). Here's a summary of the amazing awfulness that was Kahn.

2009
#5 Ricky Rubio
#6 Johnny Flynn (bust, in the running for worst pick in NBA history)
#28 Wayne Ellington (never really contributed to the Wolves)

2010
#4 Wes Johnson (bust, passed on Cousins)
#16 Luke Babbitt (traded for Martell Webster who already had a back injury)
#23 Trevor Booker (traded for #30 Lazar Hayward (bust) and a 2nd)

2011
#2 Derrick Williams (bust)
#20 Donatas Motiejūnas (traded in what became a series of 5 trades that seemed to have the sole purpose of generating cash)

I remember Derrick Williams being a consensus #2 pick with some mock drafts even having him at #1. I don't see how that's on Kahn. Same with Cousins, nobody had him over Wes, and I don't regret it one bit.