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Stephen Curry’s Agent, Father Wanted Him on the Knicks

By Maxwell Ogden

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This won’t be a fun read, New York Knicks fans.

The 2009 NBA Draft will forever be remembered as the launching pad for three genuine superstars: Blake Griffin, James Harden and Stephen Curry. Griffin went No. 1 overall, Harden came off the board at No. 3 and Curry was selected at No. 7.

Sitting at No. 8 that year: the Knicks.

Much has been made of how close New York was to drafting the player who was just named league MVP. Not as much has been made about the wishes of those on the other side of the coin—Curry’s family and representatives.

According to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, Curry’s father, former NBA player Dell Curry, and agent, Jeff Austin, wanted Curry to fall to the Knicks in the 2009 NBA Draft.

"Curry was regarded as a top-10 NBA draft prospect after averaging 28.6 points per game his junior year at Davidson College during the 2008-09 season. The Los Angeles Clippers were set on drafting then-Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin with the top pick. Austin’s hope was that his client would land with the New York Knicks with the eighth overall pick. Curry and his father, former NBA player Dell Curry, were on board with the plan as well.Still, Austin knew the Warriors had strong interest a pick before the Knicks.“The Knicks had eight and we thought in New York he’d be a great fit. We really wanted him to drop to eight,” Austin said. “Once we got to seventh, we were like, ‘C’mon man, don’t pick him with [Golden State].’ At the time, the Warriors were not in our mind as a preferred destination.”"

What could have been?

It’s worked out well for Curry, who won MVP after leading the Golden State Warriors to a 67-15 record in 2014-15. The Warriors are now up 1-0 on the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference Semifinals, while the Knicks finished the regular season at 17-65.

In hindsight, Curry ending up with the Warriors was the best case scenario. The same can’t be said for the Knicks.

There’s no telling how Curry and Carmelo Anthony would’ve functioned in tandem, or if New York would’ve traded for Anthony at all. More importantly, there’s no telling if the Knicks would’ve included Curry in a trade for Anthony.

At that point in time, Curry was still a promising young player with ankle issues.

As an all-time shooter with ankle-breaking handles, however, it would’ve been an incredible experience to routinely see Curry at his best at Madison Square Garden.

Schematically, Curry and Amar’e Stoudemire working under Mike D’Antoni would’ve created a surplus of offensive fireworks. Curry has drawn comparisons to Steve Nash, who teamed with Stoudemire under D’Antoni for the Phoenix Suns.

That trio made three separate trips to the Western Conference Finals.

Unfortunately, all the Knicks can do now is watch Curry with both awe and disappointment over what could’ve been.

What could have been?

Next: Beno Udrih: Marc Gasol won't sign with the Knicks

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