Instead, Kahn took Ricky Rubio, Johnny Flynn back-to-back
He may have been the worst NBA general manager in the sport’s history
Today, ex-Minnesota Timberwolves GM David Kahn bolstered his case, stating his reasons for not taking Steph Curry in the 2009 draft – instead taking Johnny Flynn and Ricky Rubio with back-to-back picks at Nos. 5-6.
Kahn, writing for Sports Illustrated said:
In 2009, just days after my May 22 hiring as President of Basketball Operations for the Minnesota Timberwolves, the agent for Steph Curry told me that Steph’s father, Dell, did not want his son to be drafted by Minnesota—“No offense,” as I recall Jeff Austin, his agent saying to me at the Chicago draft combine.
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.)
Curry told AZCentral.com something similar.
“We told Minnesota that Steph didn’t want to go there,” said Dell Curry, the ex-NBA standout who is Stephen’s father and a Hornets television color commentator. “We had no idea that they had agreed to a trade. Obviously, they couldn’t put that out. I remember (then-Suns general manager and now Curry’s Golden State coach) Steve Kerr calling me (the following morning) and saying, ‘Don’t go to the press conference. We have a trade that they reneged on.’ I’m like, ‘That’s between you guys. We’re going wherever they tell us. We can’t not go.’”