GRANDMAESTA_30
patreon
Chapter 84: The NBA 2009 draft End
🕑 Added 2025-04-27 09:06:54 +0000 UTCWhile Lin Yi, Blake Griffin, Steph Curry, and the others were getting mobbed by reporters, the rest of the 2009 NBA Draft results were starting to roll in too.
Over at the Thunder table, the vibe was weird. With Lin and Griffin off the board, they didn't wanna pick Hasheem Thabeet. The problem was that after seeing Lin Yi dominate in workouts, everyone had started noticing just how bad Thabeet’s flaws were.
Honestly? Lin probably did Thabeet a favor. If he’d gone second overall like in Lin’s past life, he would've gotten roasted even harder.
At the end of the day, Thunder GM Sam Presti went safe and grabbed James Harden.
Now, the thing about Presti? Dude’s smart — real smart — but way too cautious. If Lin Yi remembered right, that's part of why OKC never got over the hump and won a chip. Sometimes you gotta risk it.
Presti saw the future though — he drafted three future MVPs in three straight years. Insane.
Meanwhile, the butterfly effect was already kicking in. The Timberwolves, after trading down to fifth, passed on Rubio and took Tyreke Evans instead.
Evans was one of those “peak as a rookie” dudes — put up 20-5-5 right out of the gate and called the second coming of LBJ.
Ricky Rubio? Poor guy kept sliding down 'cause he couldn’t come over from Spain immediately. He eventually went seventh to the Kings — brutal.
From future star to “random dude in Sacramento” real fast.
At six, the Grizzlies took Thabeet anyway.
Honestly? Better spot for him. Being the sixth pick carries way less pressure than being second. Might save him a few angry Reddit threads down the road.
The Wolves — yeah, them again — picked Jonny Flynn eighth. Fate's a funny thing. With Evans already there, Flynn might turn out better this time around... or not. We'll see.
At nine, DeMar DeRozan went to the Raptors. Huge W for Toronto. With Lin Yi gone, six other teams ahead of them shifted the board, and DeRozan was already working on his three-pointer now.
Also, since he loved spamming the group chat, he wasn’t as moody this time around either. A version of DeRozan that shoots threes and isn't depressed? Yeah, that’s scary.
Lin Yi knew it too — with Chris Bosh leaving soon, DeRozan was about to become the guy in Toronto.
Tenth pick? Bucks took Brandon Jennings.
Now, Jennings was a wild card. Super quick, flashy, and a full-blown Kobe fanboy. The problem was... the dude could not shoot straight to save his life.
Career shooting percentage? 38.7%.
Three-point shooting? 34.5%.
And that’s with him chucking like he was auditioning for the “Worst Shot Selection” Hall of Fame.
He once said, dead serious:
"If you miss ten shots, you just gotta keep shooting. The next one’s going in."
Kobe probably read that quote and tried to fight him on the phone.
TN: Tears to the eyes.
Jennings still had a crazy rookie season, though — even dropped 50+ once. But yeah, eventually the Bucks got tired of watching him build houses with all those bricks and traded him.
Pick eleven? Nets took Jordan Hill.
They thought they snagged a gem because Hill could really jump on the court — second-best athlete in the draft after Griffin.
Spoiler: he wasn’t a gem. Bad teams stay bad for a reason.
At twelve, the Bobcats picked Gerald Henderson.
Why? Because Jordan thought Henderson played "just like him." And honestly, he did — if you squinted, ignored the shooting, the footwork, the instincts, and the winning part.
Thirteen? Pacers picked Tyler Hansbrough.
Tough, gritty guy. They just wanted someone who wouldn't get bullied in the playoffs.
Fourteen, Suns grabbed Terrence Williams.
Kinda meh pick. The Suns didn’t have better options, though, so whatever.
At this point, the lottery was done, and overall, it wasn’t too different from what Lin Yi remembered.
Jrue Holiday ended up in the Philadelphia 76ers — would go on to become an All-Star and later a huge part of a Pelicans team that made waves.
Jeff Teague landed with the Atlanta Hawks.
Ty Lawson went to the Timberwolves — because the Wolves thought hoarding guards was the key to winning basketball games.
Darren Collison joined the New Orleans Hornets. He shined when Chris Paul got hurt... and then immediately got delusional and thought he could replace CP3.
Patrick Beverley got picked by the Lakers.
And Lester Hudson, future CBA legend, went to the Celtics.
All in all?2009 was a crazy deep draft for guards. Half the league’s backcourts in the 2010s were born that night.
...
After the draft wrapped, Lin Yi went to meet Knicks GM Donnie Walsh.
First impression? Good guy. Friendly face, easy to talk to — way better vibe than Lin expected.
In Lin’s memories, 2009 was a huge turning point for the Knicks. When Walsh took over, the franchise was a dumpster fire — bloated contracts, no draft picks, no cap space. But little by little, Walsh cleaned house.
And the best part? He wasn’t a snake like some other GMs.
Yeah, looking at you, Isiah Thomas.
Only downside was... Walsh still overestimated how much free agents actually wanted to play for the Knicks.
He landed Amar’e Stoudemire in 2010, sure, but had to put in the shift to trade Carmelo later on from Denver.
To be real though, most GMs either know basketball but can’t manage for crap... or they can manage but don’t know basketball.
Walsh was somewhere in the middle — solid, but not perfect.
Lin Yi, alongside Zhong Muchen, signed a four-year deal worth $25 million. Officially a New York Knick.
As they shook hands, Donnie Walsh said warmly: "Lin, I’ve heard so much about you from Javier Stanford. We’re lucky to have you here."
Lin raised an eyebrow. "Wait... you know Javier?"
Walsh chuckled. "Old friend. He even tried out for the Knicks’ GM job back in the day, but the boss picked Thomas instead. After that, he went into broadcasting. I’m actually thinking about bringing him on board here as an assistant GM."
Hearing that, Lin Yi’s mind raced. Javier, an assistant GM? That’s big.
Lin remembered — Javier had mentioned once how he almost made it into the NBA world before becoming a reporter. Now it looked like fate was giving him another shot.
As he tucked the signed contract away, a small, knowing smile crept onto Lin Yi’s face and thought.
Looks like I've got an ally in the front office already.
