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Exiled former Timberwolves general manager David Kahn, 14 years removed from passing on Steph Curry twice, is now the president of Paris Basketball in the LNB Pro B basketball league. While his focus is now on turning France into a basketball hotbed, many remember Kahn for his blunders stateside, highlighted by his decision to not draft Curry, a four-time NBA champion who is one of the best shooters the league has ever seen back in 2009. Instead of drafting Curry, Kahn took point guard Ricky Rubio and shooting guard Jonny Flynn. Rubio has had a nice career, but nowhere near as good as Curry’s Hall of Fame track. As for Flynn, he flamed out after three years due to a career-altering hip injury. So why Rubio and Flynn? Kahn told staffers that they were “reminiscent of Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe.”
Weeks later Kahn presided over that fateful draft, choosing Rubio and Flynn; reportedly he told staffers they were reminiscent of Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe. Walsh, now the Knicks’ GM, recalls being frustrated: “I did get mad at him. I understand Rubio. But you took Jonny Flynn! He would have been there at 11. And you wouldn’t trade me [the sixth pick] to get Curry.” Kahn ran the Timberwolves for four years, during which time the team went 89–223. This is not the place to rehash the details—that has been done plenty—but it’s fair to say his tenure was viewed as unsuccessful. In particular, he took a beating from fans and media (“You Realize How Badly the T-Wolves Screwed Up the 2009 Draft, Right?” read a Bill Simmons headline). In exit interviews, he doubled down on his rationale; Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo Sports described Kahn as “absolutely incapable” of saying “my bad.”
I asked Steph Curry about just that earlier this week. He went seventh overall in 2009, slipping past Minnesota twice as the Timberwolves took Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn, an infamous combo mistake. But as the memories of the daily knee-jerk reactions and re-rankings have blurred, Curry only seems to recall two times when the debate over his draft class was at a fever pitch. “Toward the end of my rookie year,” Curry said. “(When) it was just me and Tyreke (Evans) going after that Rookie of the Year.” Then the other? “If I remember correctly, it was mostly when we all started creeping up on our extensions,” Curry said. “Who was going to get the most (money) going into our fourth season? Especially because it was so point-guard-heavy.”
The Republic reported that the Suns thought they’d worked out a deal for Golden State’s No. 7 pick and players in exchange for Amar'e Stoudemire. When Minnesota surprisingly drafted point guards Ricky Rubio and Johnny Flynn with the fifth and sixth picks, respectively, Curry was there for the taking for the Warriors. Golden State took the scoring machine out of Davidson with the seventh pick – and nixed the deal with the Suns.
There were three factors weighing on Thomas' tenure in Cleveland above all else: his health, his contract situation and the Cavs' championship-or-bust credo. Any one of those three challenges would be a load to handle alone. Their combined impact suffocated Thomas and created an insurmountable atmosphere, which is saying something for a man who has made a career out of beating the odds. And there was a fourth factor that poisoned the pool for Thomas in Cleveland before he even dipped his toes into the water: James was against the trade that sent Kyrie Irving to the Boston Celtics to bring Thomas there in the first place. As he showed last year, James had respect for Thomas and his battle back from a hip injury. But James was skeptical from the start. The injury itself was worrisome. James' agent also represented Jonny Flynn, a small guard who had his promising career derailed by hip injuries.
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David Kahn: Jeff Austin, who I'd known casually, had represented Dell Curry when he was a player. He had been handed Steph due to his connection to Dell and told me this was a family request. “I really need your help on this,” Jeff said, explaining why there would be no visit and perhaps even hell-to-pay. (As it turned out, this was the only time when I was with the Wolves that I ever ran into this type of draft problem.) The back-channel message would have weighed heavily in my decision-making process under any circumstances, but especially in Minnesota. Immediately after my hire, I was spending nearly every weekday morning in the team’s conference room, listening to team business partners and season-ticket holders lament over coffee and pastries. “You’ll never attract free agents here,” they said, practically in unison. “Players don’t want to play in cold-weather places.” Doomsday all around.
David Kahn: So we now had the Nos. 5 and 6 picks in the draft. Taking not one, but two players who might not want to play in Minnesota? That would have taken real cojones. We took Rubio and Jonny Flynn, a ready-to-play point guard who started 81 games for us as a rookie and then fell victim to a terrible hip injury. At the time, drafting Flynn made a lot of sense: we didn't have a single point guard on the roster and our staff had ranked him No. 1 among all point-guard prospects for not only his on-court play, but also his strong leadership qualities, a significant team need.
David Kahn: Flynn made his final move to the top of our charts based on his impressive visit and workout with Tyreke Evans and Brandon Jennings, among others. Curry's absence was duly noted. Rubio wasn't there, either, but I thought his passing ability and defense were extraordinary for an 18-year-old and was willing to take the risk I could ultimately recruit him to come. That was the player I wanted. There are only two reasons to share this story now. First, Dell Curry revealed the family’s demand to Minnesota last year but didn’t provide any detail. Part of the story’s out.
What did you think the chances were that Steph would be there at seven? Larry Riley: I really thought he would be gone. Jonny Flynn saved the day when Minnesota picked him. It was hard to read what was going on in Minnesota and therefore I wasn’t quite sure. We had gotten word the day before the Draft that they actually were going to take Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn. I was having trouble believing it, but I did get it from a pretty good source. So the day before the Draft we begin to think, “OK, there is some chance.” Previous to that, I didn’t think so.
The experience of Jonny Flynn in Italian Serie A with Orlandina Basket is over. The former NBA point guard has played just two games in October averaging 6.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists before getting injured.
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Orlandina Basket, newcomer team in Serie A, announced the signing of the former NBA point-guard Jonny Flynn. The player has already passed the medical tests and will be introduced to the press next Monday.
Sportando: Jonny Flynn could be the new guard of Orlandina Basket of Italian Serie A according to sources
After Jonny Flynn's left, Sichuan's main target is Josh Akognon, source tells http://HUPU.com .
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