2009 Draft... how does someone like Steph Curry fall to #7, and be the 3rd PG selected in his draft class??

[Rainwater]

This is probably a question for Minnesota fans but if I remember correctly, at the time, the issue with drafting both Rubio and Flynn wasn't necessarily that they missed out on Curry but that they drafted two points guards, correct? If Minn had drafted Curry instead, I still think the immediate reaction would still be confusion until Curry blew up because many saw Curry as a point guard.

No. Rubio wasn’t coming over for 2 years (at least). Actually drafting 2 PGs was probably the only play Kahn had (drafting 3 as he did was nuts).

Wolves in 2 years should have been:
Cousins
Love
Brewer (or about anyone)
Curry
Rubio

I meant to say the issue was the number of point guards they had the roster not just they had two. I just don't remember the outrage being that they missed out Curry at the time. It was the fact they had so many damn pgs.

[remiga007]

GSW actually got a lot of flack for selecting Curry so high. Many thought they were s small team therefore needed a big desperately at the time.

[Rainwater]

This is probably a question for Minnesota fans but if I remember correctly, at the time, the issue with drafting both Rubio and Flynn wasn't necessarily that they missed out on Curry but that they drafted two points guards, correct? If Minn had drafted Curry instead, I still think the immediate reaction would still be confusion until Curry blew up because many saw Curry as a point guard.

No. Rubio wasn’t coming over for 2 years (at least). Actually drafting 2 PGs was probably the only play Kahn had (drafting 3 as he did was nuts).

Wolves in 2 years should have been:
Cousins
Love
Brewer (or about anyone)
Curry
Rubio

Here is what I mean.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/206921-what-are-we-going-to-do-with-flynn-and-rubio.amp.html

What in the world is David Kahn thinking? I cannot express the disgust of my first thought when I heard Johnny Flynn's name called. Do not get me wrong, I like Johnny Flynn a lot, but wow! We got rid of Randy Foye who's a point guard/shooting guard. I would assume that after drafting our point guard for the future, that we would draft a player at another position.

[NO-KG-AI]

This is probably a question for Minnesota fans but if I remember correctly, at the time, the issue with drafting both Rubio and Flynn wasn't necessarily that they missed out on Curry but that they drafted two points guards, correct? If Minn had drafted Curry instead, I still think the immediate reaction would still be confusion until Curry blew up because many saw Curry as a point guard.

No. Rubio wasn’t coming over for 2 years (at least). Actually drafting 2 PGs was probably the only play Kahn had (drafting 3 as he did was nuts).

Wolves in 2 years should have been:
Cousins
Love
Brewer (or about anyone)
Curry
Rubio

I meant to say the issue was the number of point guards they had the roster not just they had two. I just don't remember the outrage being that they missed out Curry at the time. It was the fact they had so many damn pgs.

I wasn't THAT outraged by it, but I saw Curry as like a better shooting Lou Williams type. A small SG that could only flourish as a 6th man, or on the rare team that had a tall, long, defensive, pass first PG... like Rubio. I thought on that kind of team you could unlock Steph's scoring and shooting and cover for all his weaknesses.

I also was still riding the Rubio hype. I think a lot of people don't realize how hyped he was as a youngster from like the age of 14. I think he is probably the reason people tempered their expectations with prodigies like Doncic lol.

[Rainwater]

No. Rubio wasn’t coming over for 2 years (at least). Actually drafting 2 PGs was probably the only play Kahn had (drafting 3 as he did was nuts).

Wolves in 2 years should have been:
Cousins
Love
Brewer (or about anyone)
Curry
Rubio

I meant to say the issue was the number of point guards they had the roster not just they had two. I just don't remember the outrage being that they missed out Curry at the time. It was the fact they had so many damn pgs.

I wasn't THAT outraged by it, but I saw Curry as like a better shooting Lou Williams type. A small SG that could only flourish as a 6th man, or on the rare team that had a tall, long, defensive, pass first PG... like Rubio. I thought on that kind of team you could unlock Steph's scoring and shooting and cover for all his weaknesses.

I also was still riding the Rubio hype. I think a lot of people don't realize how hyped he was as a youngster from like the age of 14. I think he is probably the reason people tempered their expectations with prodigies like Doncic lol.

You may not have been outraged but people killed khan at the time for drafting two points guards. I'm almost certain it would have been the same hate for Khan if he drafted Curry instead of Flynn until Curry became Curry.

[Wolveswin]

I meant to say the issue was the number of point guards they had the roster not just they had two. I just don't remember the outrage being that they missed out Curry at the time. It was the fact they had so many damn pgs.

I wasn't THAT outraged by it, but I saw Curry as like a better shooting Lou Williams type. A small SG that could only flourish as a 6th man, or on the rare team that had a tall, long, defensive, pass first PG... like Rubio. I thought on that kind of team you could unlock Steph's scoring and shooting and cover for all his weaknesses.

I also was still riding the Rubio hype. I think a lot of people don't realize how hyped he was as a youngster from like the age of 14. I think he is probably the reason people tempered their expectations with prodigies like Doncic lol.

You may not have been outraged but people killed khan at the time for drafting two points guards. I'm almost certain it would have been the same hate for Khan if he drafted Curry instead of Flynn until Curry became Curry.

He drafted 3x point guards.

Rubio was the 100% right pick at 5. He was valued much higher, plus the added benefit of tanking, errr losing for 2 years while he played in Europe. Drafting two as no big deal. He needed one instantly, and Rubio was a 2 year mystery. Drafting Curry was the play then and now. Like many Kahn picks he outthinked the room. Same not picking Cousins the very next year (which would have been the very same Wolves outcome even with Curry instead of Flynn).

[durden_tyler]

What's funny to me was the Rubio over Curry pick was basically the Worst Shooting Point Guard Ever vs the Best Shooting Point Guard Ever and we knew that from the start. (Okay, maybe Rubio was young and we thought he would be able to fix that broken jumper, but he never did).

Scouts are this bad?

You make it seem like shooting was the only thing people should have been looking at. And I don't think it was a consensus that Curry was the best shooting PG ever at the time. Rubio got some crazy hype back in day especially for his ball handling, passing ability, and play against the US team. If I remember correctly Rubio had been seen as the the next big thing since the age of 16. Yes, looking at it today one could ask why did Minn chose Rubio over Curry but that was definitely not the case during the draft in 09.

yes that's true, the hype was so high on Rubio so can't really blame MIN i guess. That he turned out to be a complete bust just make it hurt more.

[Pennebaker]

How does something like that happen?

Steph Curry is going to go down as a top 10 all-time talent. Revolutionized the sport. Incredible legacy. And he's not even finished.


How on earth is this man the 3rd Point Guard selected in his draft???


Was this just very poor draft scouting???

or does Steph Curry not get enough credit for working so hard???

He was skinny and frail looking. He looked like he was 13 years old.

And it's not like Steph took the league by storm when he was drafted. He didn't make an All-Star team until his 5th season.

[Pennebaker]

How does something like that happen?

Steph Curry is going to go down as a top 10 all-time talent. Revolutionized the sport. Incredible legacy. And he's not even finished.


How on earth is this man the 3rd Point Guard selected in his draft???


Was this just very poor draft scouting???

or does Steph Curry not get enough credit for working so hard???

He was skinny and frail looking and indeed suffered injury early in his career. But he looked like he was 12 years old.

And it's not like Steph took the league by storm when he was drafted. He didn't make an All-Star team until his 5th season.

[Uncle Mxy]

Another factor was that Dell Curry told both Minny and Warriors not to draft his son, so that he can go to NY. Minny didn't draft him and Warriors drafted him nonetheless.

If Dell weren't his well-to-do dad, would he have gone into the draft in 2008? Would he have been a lottery pick? That's a more interesting question to me than "was Minny stupid to draft 6' Jonny Flynn ahead of Curry?"

[Phreak50]

If the rules didn't change he wouldn't have been who he is now.

Likewise, if his team didn't become great he also wouldn't have been great himself.

Right place right time for him.

Kind of a theme for his career really.

- without Zaza ruining Kawhi's career and the Spurs franchise, his team wouldn't have progressed that round.

-without the Cavs' finals injuries, he'd have one less ring

-without KD joining he'd have another two less rings.

-if the Nuggets were at full strength he would have lost first round this playoffs...

Pretty funny really.

[AussieBuck]

Even without hindsight, if you were set on two PG types, Rubio and Curry were the obvious pairing. Was funny at the time, got funnier as it went.

[knicksfan974]

Hindsight is always 20/20.

The real question now is that who is the Stephen Curry of the 2022 Draft, and not make the mistake of passing on him.

[hamncheese]

Hindsight is always 20/20.

The real question now is that who is the Stephen Curry of the 2022 Draft, and not make the mistake of passing on him.

Odds are extremely high that there will be no "Stephen Curry of the 2022 draft" so not really a question to ask.

[peZt]

Based on consensus opinions at the time, Rubio over Curry was not a crazy pick. He played against Team USA in the 2008 Olympics when he was 17 years old and was seen as the next great international player. I remember the Rubio hype being pretty similar to the pre-draft Luka hype to be honest. Plus, people forget that Curry actually went back for his junior year at Davidson after their run to the Elite 8 during his sophomore season. He was still a top prospect, but a little bit of the shine had come off IMO.

It was taking Flynn over Rubio that was completely insane, even in the moment. If you were going to take two lead guards with your pair of top 10 picks, at least take the one that really compliments the non-shooter you just drafted. Curry had been mocked ahead of Flynn during the entire lead up to the draft but was a bit of a late riser on some big boards. Its funny to look back at mock drafts from that time, the way everyone thought about players was completely different. I remember most pundits thought the Thunder should take Rubio because Westbrook could play off ball and Durant was a good enough shooter to cover for them.

The final game in 2008 Olympics was nuts. Team USA, with guys like Kobe and Lebron, could not stop Rubio, who almost carried Spain to a win. He was the best 17 year old on the planet at that point. Don't discount Rubio as a prospect, even if he never really got any better.

Rookie Rubio is still the most entertaining player I've ever seen.

Watch on YouTube

[Quattro]

Incompetent scouting and management

[jasonxxx102]

because he didn't project to be the greatest shooter of all time, had concerns with NBA level athleticism, wasn't considered a true PG more of a combo guard but was too small for that role.

Anyone who says they knew what he would turn out to be and the scouts all got it wrong has no idea what they're talking about and is just practicing revisionist history

[rtiff68]

If the rules didn't change he wouldn't have been who he is now.

Likewise, if his team didn't become great he also wouldn't have been great himself.

Right place right time for him.

Kind of a theme for his career really.

- without Zaza ruining Kawhi's career and the Spurs franchise, his team wouldn't have progressed that round.

-without the Cavs' finals injuries, he'd have one less ring

-without KD joining he'd have another two less rings.

-if the Nuggets were at full strength he would have lost first round this playoffs...

Pretty funny really.

Congratulations. Almost every word of this is nonsense. It’s full of enormous assumptions that you state emphatically as if they were widely accepted facts/ideas.

Pretty funny, indeed. Good grief…

[brutalitops]

Rubio is a very good player and absolutely worth pick 5. He never really recovered after his first knee injury which seemed to really effect his defense and first step for years

Was doing great at cleveland as wel


The Flynn pick...Yikes


Also the fact Curry had real big red flags about ankles, refused to share medicals and we needed a PG to play now as Rubio was going to be tied down in Europe for 2+ years made us Pick Flynn

[puppa bear]

People also forget that he was trying to get to NY as well. His camp helped tank his position and scared off the Wolves. Thabeet was the only real reach (at the time) in the top 5, and they knew Rubio wasn’t coming over straight away.

They would have been better keeping Lawson (#18) & trading the 6 to NY who were super hot to get their hands on Curry. They could have gotten the #9 and a future pick. Then taking DeRozan at the 9, they would have had a solid backcourt for the future.