FanPost

A Look at the 2009 Draft: From Kahn's Perspective


I recently came across this 2009 Post Draft Interview of David Kahn with the Portland Tribune. In it I found three interesting quotes that I thought I'd share with the rest of the Hoopus community. You can find them below the jump.

On Jonny Flynn's defensive ability:

"Jonny has electricity crackling out of him," Kahn says of the 6-0 quicksilver out of Syracuse. "He’s a much different type of player than Ricky – much more of a scorer’s mentality, but with capabilities of being one of the best on-ball defenders in our league. He’s very physical for his size, very quick, with amazing physical tools."

Yikes. The guy Kahn stated was capable of "being one of the best on-the ball defenders in our league." is the same guy referred to in this blog as setting "himself apart from the rest of the league in his inability/unwillingness to defend."

On passing on Stephen Curry:

"I know, I know," Kahn says. "Why not take Stephen? Stephen is a tremendous shooter. I have no doubt he’ll be able to score at a very high rate in the NBA. But I kept hearing from his dad and agent, ‘He’s a point guard; he’s a point guard.’ Defensively, that really isn’t his strength. Jonny and Ricky will be able to match up well together defensively.

Well there you have it. Just in case you had any doubt, Jonny Flynn was drafted ahead of Stephen Curry because of his defensive "ability." That's depressing to think about. David Kahn passed on Stephen Curry because of his inability to play defense, only to draft potentially the worst defender in the league (might as well link again). Ugh.

And the kicker: David Kahn on our Draft Board

"We couldn’t believe our luck that Rubio was there at five," Kahn says. "And we love Jonny Flynn. We had them ranked as the second- and third-best players on our board."

Beginning about halfway into Tyreke Evans' ROY campaign, we began to hear Kahn allude multiple times to Evans being the guy the team coveted. I can't find that on the internet, but I'm pretty sure it happened during meetings with Season Ticket Holders or at Hoopus Night, or another function of that ilk. So this would mean 1 of 3 things...

Scenario 1. Kahn had Evans 1st on his board, and Blake Griffin (the consensus #1 pick) 4th. If we drafted 3rd that year, with Rubio and Evans off the board, we would have drafted Jonny Flynn over Blake Griffin.

Scenario 2. During Tyreke Evans ROY Campaign, Kahn began lying and using revisionist history in order to circulate the rumor that he wanted Tyreke Evans all along.

Scenario 3. Kahn is unnecessarily lying in this interview with Kerry Eggers.I would also venture a guess that Eggers is a friend/former co-worker from his Journalist days back in Portland. He sure writes as if he likes Kahn.

Overall, I just thought this interview with David Kahn served as an interesting re-read now that we're a year removed from the draft. What do you think?