The 2009 NBA Draft was loaded with guard prospects: James Harden from Arizona State, Tyreke Evans from Memphis, Stephen Curry from Davidson, DeMar DeRozan from USC, Jrue Holiday from UCLA, Ty Lawson from North Carolina, Terrence Williams from Louisville, Jeff Teague from Wake Forest, Jonny Flynn from Syracuse, and tantalizing EuroLeague star Ricky Rubio.
Coming off a 24-58 season that saw Randy Wittman fired after only 19 games (the Wolves were 4-15), the Timberwolves front office was looking for some back court help for the upcoming 2009 season.
The Wolves had re-acquired their 2009 first round pick from the Boston Celtics (6th overall) after they had sent traded in 2006 with Wally Szczerbiak, Michael Olowokandi and Dwayne Jones for Ricky Davis, Marcus Banks, Mark Blount, Justin Reed and two second-rounders. It came back in the Kevin Garnett trade in 2007.
Wolves GM David Khan's wanted two of the guards in the draft. His trade target? Flip Saunders and the Washington Wizards.
Washington finished with the league's second-worst record in 2008, but had fallen out of the top three on NBA Lottery night and had the fifth overall pick. Khan traded guards Randy Foye (61 starts, 16.3 ppg) and Mike Miller (47 starts, 9.9 ppg) to the Washington for the Wizards' first round pick and three players (Etan Thomas, Darius Songalia, Oleksiy Pecherov).
The Wolves also had the Miami Heat's first round pick (18th overall) from an October 2007 trade that sent Davis and Blount to South Beach for Antoine Walker, Wayne Simien and Michael Doleac.
Oklahoma's Blake Griffin was the conscientious best player in the draft, and we went first overall to the LA Clippers. Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet went second to Memphis. Two guards went of the board with the third pick (James Harden/OKC) and fourth pick (Tyreke Evans/Sacramento).
With the fifth pick, David Khan took Spanish superstar Ricky Rubio.
And, with players like DeMar DeRozen and Stephen Curry still on the board, he took Jonny Flynn.
At the time, it made sense to take Flynn. While Curry was the best pure shooter in the draft, he flat out said that he only wanted to play for the Knicks (The Knicks had the eighth pick. Golden State had the seventh and didn't give a crap where he wanted to play...).
Flynn was impressive in college for the Syracuse Orange. He showed his scoring ability (16.6ppg over two seasons), conditioning (played 67 of 70 minutes in a 5OT game against UConn), clutch free throw shooting (was 16/16 from the line in that UConn game), and was known for his lock-down defense on the perimeter.
Flynn showed flashes of brilliance during his rookie year with the Wolves. In an October game against the New Jersey Nets, he sparked a rally and led the Wolves back from a 19-point deficit, scoring 13 fourth quarter points. In December, he hit the game winner in a 28 point effort against the Utah Jazz. In January, he scored 29 points in an overtime win against the Philadelphia 76ers.
He started all 81 games his rookie year while averaging 13.5 ppg, 2.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists and shot 35% from beyond the arc...good enough to make the All-Rookie Second Team.
After hip surgery following the season, Flynn wasn't the same player. He played in 53 games (started eight) and his numbers dipped dramatically: 5.3 ppg during his sophomore season. He was traded to the Houston Rockets during the 2011 NBA Draft for Brad Miller and three draft picks.
Following the trade, Flynn would only appear in 29 more NBA games between the Rockets and Portland Trailblazers.
The fact that Flynn's success only lasted for one season is just the tip of the iceberg here. Sports fans know the success that Steph Curry has had in Oakland. But in 2010, the year after Flynn's rookie season, the Indiana Pacers offered their 10th overall draft selection in exchange for Flynn: Paul George.
David Khan turned it down.
