Knicks History

Reliving the 2009 NBA Draft when Knicks missed Steph Curry

The 2009 NBA Draft gave the Knicks one of their most painful draft memories in team history. New York was all in on the highly touted Point Guard out of Davidson College – Stephen Curry.

Both sides expected Curry to become a Knick. The Knicks wanted Curry in New York, and Curry wanted to be there. Only one thing stood in their way, and that was the Golden State Warriors.

It is a story that has been relived many times over by Knicks fans. Steph Curry himself likes to torment and remind everyone how close they were. Curry is one of the most polarizing and talented players in the NBA, and was one pick away from being a New York Knick.

What happened in the 2009 NBA Draft?

In the lead up to the NBA draft, the expectation was for Curry to go to New York with the 8th overall pick. On many draft boards, Curry was the 3rd or 4th best Point Guard available, so there was good reason to believe this was going to happen. Ricky Rubio, Jonny Flynn and Brandon Jennings, in some peoples eyes, had greater ceilings than Curry.

Stephen Curry declared for NBA Draft. Doug Gottlieb "He doesnt have the upside of Rubio. Jennings, Flynn, Mills, Teague all more athletic."
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 23, 2009

Hindsight is a beautiful thing. Looking back, Steph Curry was not only the best Point Guard in the 2009 NBA Draft, but the best player period.

In January of 2020, Curry appeared on Showtime’s “All The Smoke” with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, where he opened up about his draft night thoughts with respect to the Knicks.

“I wanted to go to New York and thought I was going to New York.”
Stephen Curry

Those supporting Curry also wanted him to be a Knick. According to then Golden State Assistant GM Travis Schlenk, Curry’s agent sent a text asking the Warriors not to pick him. Marc Spears in a story for Yahoo sports also shared how Dell Curry, Stephen Curry’s father, hoped he would land in the big apple.

In the green room he waited for the eventual call from New York. But this was not the call he received. Curry said “[I] was [at] the draft, in the green room like ‘oh, we’ll get to the eighth spot, New York will get me.’ Then I got the call from (Warriors GM) Larry Riley, like ‘alright we’re going to pick you in the seventh spot.'”

Stephen Curry became the 7th pick by Golden State.

Who did New York pick?

Curry was no longer coming to New York. The Knicks dreams of drafting this once in a generation talent was gone, but they still needed draft someone. The Knicks were on the clock.

In a wildly talented draft, the Knicks still had some viable options. If a guard was the need, Demar DeRozan and Jrue Holiday were still on the board. Obviously they are not at the level of Steph Curry, but have both had incredible careers. Holiday in particular is an NBA Champion.

The Knicks went in another direction. They went big and selected Jordan Hill with the number 8 pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. The Arizona product averaged 7.9 points and 5.8 rebounds in his 409 career regular-season games.

2009 NBA Draft Order

Pick	Team	Player	College/From
1	Clippers	Blake Griffin	Oklahoma
2	Grizzlies	Hasheem Thabeet	Connecticut
3	Thunder	James Harden	Arizona State
4	Kings	Tyreke Evans	Memphis
5	Timberwolves	Ricky Rubio	Spain
6	Timberwolves	Jonny Flynn	Syracuse
7	Warriors	Stephen Curry	Davidson
8	Knicks	Jordan Hill	Arizona
9	Raptors	DeMar DeRozan	Southern California
10	Bucks	Brandon Jennings	USA

To this day, at least the Knicks are not the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Steph Curry at the Garden

The 2009 NBA Draft is made all the more painful by the continued beating Curry lays on the Garden crowd.

Curry has a 9-1 record against the Knicks and his one loss was a 54 point performance. Curry has had many tremendous performances and moments at the Garden. None greater than when he broke the all time NBA 3 point made record, a fitting moment.

We can’t say for certain that Curry would have had the same illustrious career had he been drafted by New York. What we can say however, is that Curry will continue to decimate the Knicks, every chance he gets. This is for certain.