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

Grumpy Heat Fan · Post #1 » by **Grumpy Heat Fan** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:01 pm

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???

leolozon · Post #2 » by **leolozon** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:07 pm

The famous lack of athleticism that we see so often when good players drop.

Pretty much everyone knew at the time that the Wolves were being stupid by taking Flynn though. That one was mind boggling.

Slim Charlez · Post #3 » by **Slim Charlez** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:12 pm

Because he wasn't a "traditional point guard", was "too small" and relied too much on his jumpshot. Jurassic era thinking basically.

CLosP · Post #4 » by **CLosP** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:14 pm

Minnesota that’s how.

SK21209 · Post #5 » by **SK21209** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:15 pm

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.

Rainwater · Post #6 » by **Rainwater** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:15 pm

The draft is a crap shoot, nobody can predict the future. Kobe was drafted 15. Giannis drafted 15 I believe. Joker in the second round. Manu in the second round. Agent 0 second round. Daymond second round. Regardless of how good scouting is it's not perfect and somebody is going to fall through.

I know Curry just won the title and he is a great player but I am kinda tired of these hot take threads popping up about him.

Coxy · Post #7 » by **Coxy** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:18 pm

Post #8 » by **bisme37** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:19 pm

There were concerns about his durability, size and ability to guard. He had a series of ankle injuries and it took a while for him to even get/stay healthy early in his career. No one knew he'd become an all-time great. You can be a great GM and still not be Nostradamus.

At the time the Wolves got killed for their draft, but it wasn't because they didn't take Steph. It was just that they took 2 point guards who didn't really compliment each other with consecutive picks (Rubio and Flynn).

Post #9 » by **tsherkin** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:20 pm

It's usually pretty hard to tell that someone is going to flip the game's paradigm on its heels. A couple of teams passing on a 6'3 PG who shot a lot of Js, wasn't built like a Billups-esque tank, and didn't have the kind of explosive athleticism that painted a vision of Kevin Johnson or other attacking guards like that isn't a surprise. Small PGs almost never lead teams as focal offensive players, far more often as supporting players (historically speaking).

He has, of course, flipped the script. Shown everyone that he was far more than what they expected, changed everything.

Ursusamericanus · Post #10 » by **Ursusamericanus** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:20 pm

There was lots of concern over his ankles, size, and durability.

That said, I remember being bummed he was off the board by the time the Knicks had the pick.

celticfan42487 · Post #11 » by **celticfan42487** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:21 pm

It was a mistakey

CptCrunch · Post #12 » by **CptCrunch** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:24 pm

The real answer is that he deserved that #7 pick. He is just an undersized point guard upperclassman from a mid-major. At that point no one knew he would become the best shooter in NBA history. He was a great shooter, but they were/are great shooters every year.

Jabari Smith is arguably more advanced than Curry at the same age in terms of shooting, are you brave enough to project him as the next Curry or even better than Curry (in terms of shooting)? If you are, then we don't need this thread. Go apply for a front office position in the NBA.

The one thing we can crap on is Minnesota front office led by the great David Kahn. The general consensus was that Curry was a better prospect than Flynn, worse than Rubio. So Curry should have been that #6 pick realistically.

ibraheim718 · Post #13 » by **ibraheim718** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:28 pm

He went to a small school.

hamncheese · Post #14 » by **hamncheese** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:31 pm

At the time, he was the fourth PG drafted. Tyreke Evans was a PG back then. Curry went to a small school so that was against him (name another NBA player from Davison). He was scrawny so definitely questions about durability (and his early ankle issues as a pro was why the Warriors had him on a very team friendly 4 year $41 million contract". No one projected him as great as he has become. The most inexplicable choice was drafting Johnny Flynn. The Warriors were set to trade the pick because they thought Curry wouldn't be available. Curry was expected top 6 I believe. It was a deep draft for point guards with some fans thinking they should have picked Brandon Jennings or Jrue Holiday.

vital_signs · Post #15 » by **vital_signs** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:34 pm

Dude was a scrawny shooter, a lot of people didn't think his game would transition as well as it did. Things happen, Giannis was a mid 1st rounder and Jokic was drafted in the 2nd roud.

CptCrunch · Post #16 » by **CptCrunch** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:36 pm

hamncheese wrote:At the time, he was the fourth PG drafted. Tyreke Evans was a PG back then. Curry went to a small school so that was against him (name another NBA player from Davison). He was scrawny so definitely questions about durability (and his early ankle issues as a pro was why the Warriors had him on a very team friendly 4 year $41 million contract". No one projected him as great as he has become. The most inexplicable choice was drafting Johnny Flynn. The Warriors were set to trade the pick because they thought Curry wouldn't be available. Curry was expected top 6 I believe. It was a deep draft for point guards with some fans thinking they should have picked Brandon Jennings or Jrue Holiday.

Yeah, that was a great PG draft.

Tyreke, Harden, Rubio, Flynn, Curry, Brandon Jennings, Jru Holiday, Ty Lawson, Darren Collison, Roddy Beaubois, Toney Douglas, Sergio Llull (never played in NBA), Patrick Beverly, Patty Mills

JujitsuFlip · Post #17 » by **JujitsuFlip** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:38 pm

I have ya one better, they drafted PG Rubio #5, PG Flynn #6, PG Ty Lawson #18 (ultimately traded for a future pick), and SG Ellington #28.

Free Rider · Post #18 » by **Free Rider** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:41 pm

Yea, this is such a hindsight being 20/20 outlook. There were serious and legitimate concerns about Curry at the time he was drafted particularly given his size and injury history. He was in no way a consensus top 3 or 4 pick at the time. Rubio was by far considered the more surefire bet at the time and probably rightfully so. Curry isn't even one of the most egregious drops over the last 15 years. Luka falling to 3 is a much more unforgivable mistake because there's was more than enough overwhelming evidence that he was going to be a generational type player.

Lenneth · Post #19 » by **Lenneth** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:42 pm

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.

sanima233 · Post #20 » by **sanima233** » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:46 pm

SK21209 wrote: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.