The 30 most painful NBA Draft pass-ups since 2000

NBA Draft Mistake #1: Minnesota drafting Johnny Flynn and Ricky Rubio over Steph Curry and DeMar DeRozan.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have had a shaky draft history since the year 2000, despite selecting in the top six 10 times in that span. Of those 10 selections, only Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards, and Ricky Rubio have panned out.

Even then, they passed up future two-time MVP Steph Curry, not once but twice, in 2009 by selecting Rubio and Jonny Flynn fifth and sixth, respectively. While Rubio became an above-average starting point guard, he certainly wasn’t Curry, and neither was Flynn, who lasted just two years in Minnesota before being traded.

Former GM David Khan received flack for drafting three point guards in the first round, including Ty Lawson with the 18th pick, who was moved to Denver soon after. Unfortunately for Minnesota, he managed to overlook Curry, who was coming off a sizzling season at Davidson in which he averaged 28.6 points and 5.6 assists. He also failed to pick future six-time all-star DeMar DeRozan, who was taken 10th.

Had Khan and the Wolves selected either, they probably wouldn’t have missed the playoffs for the first eight seasons following the 2009 draft and 11 of the last 14 seasons overall. Needless to say, they absolutely regret passing over Curry, who has led Golden State to four championships, thus making it the most painful NBA Draft pass-up since 2000.