Chad Ford: Jonny Flynn Is Good

by Ben Kopelman on June 2nd, 2009 at 4:30 pm

In his most recent mock draft, ESPN’s Chad Ford shakes up his big board in a few directions, but none as surprising as the skyrocket in flight that is Jonny Flynn, who Ford has going at #7 to Don Nelson and Golden State.

“Analysis: The Warriors don’t have a traditional point guard and I think it will be hard for them to pass on Flynn if he’s still on the board. I thought they’d be taking a serious look at Brandon Jennings here, and they probably will, but Flynn has the leadership and heart that the Warriors desperately need. Jennings is a project who is much farther away.”

Ford continues to project Stephen Curry going to the Knicks at #8.

Flynn has been helping himself with workouts and interviews since he put his name into the draft a couple months ago. That being said, I don’t see Flynn being taken above the Knicks come June 25. I don’t see Jordan Hill slipping as low as 10 to the Bucks or Brandon Jennings going as low as 14 either…
  • slambam

    If Curry is gone by 8 and Flynn is still there, i would take him in a heartbeat. i would prefer him to Holiday (i know everyone loves him but he didn’t produce in college which puts me off). Flynn is a floor general with an underrated jumpshot an great quickness, who’s only true weakness is his size. Curry is still the ideal fit in my opinion, but i PERSONALLY would take Flynn over Holiday. Holiday could very well be a superstar and has the potential to be, but watching him play in college was quite underwhelming after all his high school hype.

  • Sergio

    Johnny Flynn is my second choice if Stephen Curry is gone. His height makes no difference with his speed and power. And I love Flynn’s personality on the court. He’s fearless. He just seems like he has the potential to be a leader. Golden State would be very smart to take him.

    But I don’t see Don Nelson taking Flynn over Curry. And from what you’re reading, I don’t think Mike D’Antoni and Donnie Walsh take Flynn over Jrue Holiday. Which would be a HUGE mistake. Holiday is nothing special and has nothing going for him besides his size and so-called potential.

  • Chris Alvino

    I would not go that far on Holiday. Even if he shows zero offensive promise, he still is a good defender. He showed that in college. Holiday obviously did not blow away people during his sole year at UCLA, but that in part can be attributed to playing alongside another, IMO, 1st round PG in Collison.

    Holiday’s size cannot be overlooked when discussing him. While I usually do not use size as a barometer for PGs, when you have a player as tall and long as Holiday playing the point, that allows for better defensive matchups and allows for mis-matches on offense.

    Flynn played much better than Holiday in college. I will give him that. But Holiday should be the pick if Curry is gone.

    That is just my take. We can look back a year from now and decide that Flynn was the best player to come out of the draft. That happens a lot with non-top 5 picks.

  • Bart

    I agree with the assessment of Holiday nothing special that I have seen.

  • slambam

    Holiday may have the most potential of any guard in the draft, but another reason the knicks should take Curry or Flynn ahead of him is that he wont be a great contributor next year. He’s one of the younger players in the draft and will take a few years to completely develop. If we want to attract a big name we need a guy who’ll come in and help immediately (not necessarily be a star). Curry can bring shooting immediately and Flynn Leadership, and while holiday would bring defense, that’s not something sexy that would attract a FA

  • Cheech

    Well if they are a smart free agent (which is what we want) they will be enticed by a player who plays good defense. Holliday has a much higher cieling than Flynn. With that being said i really like Flynn, but if Holliday is there and curry is not i think that has to be the pick. But Curry, Holliday and Flynn all bring something different. Shooting, defense, and leadership, respectively.

  • CircleLimit4

    I gotta give the edge to Holiday over Flynn, but not by much. You can’t point out Jrue’s stats when he was playing out of position and then just dismiss his defense as some unimportant attribute. You just can’t.

  • italian stallion

    Is there even a remote possibility that the Knicks are so hot for Curry they would trade UP to make sure they get him?

    Is there even a remote possibility the Knicks have someone else or some kind of other deal in mind and all this Curry noise is just a smoke screen?

  • CircleLimit4

    I hope it’s a giant NO to the first question. I want Curry but not enough to give up something of value to get him. Curry isn’t so far ahead of Jrue/Evans/Flynn that I would trade up. This PG class is so tight we could make due with any PG that falls at 8.

  • ridinmywave

    ummmm…i would take flynn over curry ANY day, i dont see how curry can be the top rated pint gaurd in this draft…