The lasting memory of David Kahn’s tenure as general manager in Minnesota is the 2009 NBA Draft, when the Timberwolves used the fifth and sixth overall selections to take point guards Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn, passing on Davidson’s Steph Curry. It was the first draft with Kahn at the helm, and remains the most notable, even if he had other draft disasters like Wesley Johnson (No. 4, 2010) and Derrick Williams (No. 2, 2011).
The Flynn over Curry pick still haunts Timberwolves fans to this day, mainly because any time two-time Steph Curry does anything, they are reminded that Kahn picked Flynn (and Rubio) over him. Barring a massive free agent signing, a GM’s legacy is mostly created in the NBA Draft. This is especially true in smaller markets, where the path to a superstar almost always involves drafting them.
Those draft failures remain the biggest reason why Kahn is still public enemy No. 1 in Minnesota, but as he tells it, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place when it came to Steph Curry.
Ahead of the 2017 NBA Draft, Kahn wrote a story for Sports Illustrated about how LaVar Ball isn’t the first father to steer his son to one team or another, as Ball is attempting to do with getting Lonzo to the Lakers. As Kahn tells it, Steph Curry’s father, Dell, made it clear that he didn’t want the Timberwolves to draft Steph, by relaying a message to Kahn through Curry’s agent at the draft combine.
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.
Kahn went on to defend drafting Flynn, pointing out that there was already concern that Rubio, who he was enamored with, wouldn’t want to come over and he couldn’t risk drafting two players that didn’t want to play in Minnesota. Rubio, as it turned out, did eventually come over and has been solid but not great with the Timberwolves, while Flynn flamed out of the league with the assistance of some injury issues.
This story won’t change anyone in Minnesota’s mind about Kahn, he was bad throughout his tenure in more ways than just passing on Curry, but at least we now know a little better about how instrumental Dell was in pushing his son away from the T-Wolves. Dell has admitted that he told Minnesota he didn’t want them to take Curry, but Kahn says it was more forceful than Dell originally let on.
In the end, things have worked out for Steph, and the Timberwolves are finally on the up-and-up after some much better draft fortune with the likes of Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins (acquired in a trade for Kevin Love).
