Who Is The Biggest Draft Steal Of All-Time?
Today I will be finding the greatest draft steal of all-time.
Throughout NBA history, some of the greatest players have been drafted later than they were supposed to go. These guys were doubted and slept on by franchises and they made them pay for their wrong decisions. Today I will be finding the best draft steal of all-time.
Candidates:
Stephen Curry
Manu Ginobli
Tony Parker
Dwyane Wade
And my pick for the biggest draft steal of all-time is… Stephen Curry. Now let’s see why Curry is the biggest draft steal of all-time.
Situation
Going into the 2009 NBA Draft, Stephen Curry was not a highly touted point guard. He was a small, skinny guy from Davidson who could shoot. Many people didn’t believe he would be effective in the NBA with his size and lack of point guard experience.
Some notable names from this draft were Blake Griffin and James Harden.
Griffin went #1 overall and Harden went 3rd. Tyreke Evans went 4th and here is where things get interesting.
The Minnesota Timberwolves held the #5 and #6 spots in the draft. And they they looking for a point guard. At #5 they drafted Ricky Rubio, an international prospect who has been a solid NBA player. At #6 they selected Jonny Flynn from Syracuse. Flynn was a different story.
Flynn had a solid rookie campaign in which he averaged 13.5 points in 81 games. But, injuries derailed his career as he only played 82 games for the rest of his career and he last played in the NBA during the 2011-12 season.
Hindsight is always 20/20, but the Timberwolves have two chances for Curry, and they missed him both times.
Stephen Curry vs Rubio and Flynn
The Timberwolves were looking pretty smart at the start of the decade as Curry was missing so much time with his ankle injuries. In the limited time that we saw Curry, we saw some flashes of potential All-Star level play. But he could never stay healthy.
That all changed after the 2014-15 season in which Curry led the Warriors to a 67-15 record with new coach Steve Kerr. Curry was named league MVP and the Warriors won the championship.
In 2016 Curry had arguably the best season of the decade as he won unanimous MVP, the first one ever. He made 402 3’s and the Warriors were one game away from winning a title.
The Warriors added Kevin Durant that off-season and won back-to-back titles. In 2019 they nearly beat the Raptors with a very depleted roster.
So, the Timberwolves might have missed the mark here. Just a bit.
Ricky Rubio has averaged 11.3 points and 7.8 assists while shooting 39% from the field and 33% from 3.
Jonny Flynn averaged 9.2 points while shooting 40% from the field and 33.8% from 3.
Stephen Curry averaged 23.5 points and 6.6 assists while shooting 47.6% from the field and 43.5% from 3.
You have to wonder if the Timberwolves did indeed draft Curry, where they would be now. With Kevin Love, the Timberwolves could have been much more successful than they were. I doubt they would have won a ring because their management is bad, but they would be threats in the West.
The Timberwolves had two chances to draft the greatest shooter of all-time, a 2x MVP, 3x NBA Champion. Instead they missed and the rest is history.
What do you think? Who is the biggest draft steal of all-time? Leave all of your comments down below.
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