The pro game is a fickle beast. Yesterday's hero is today's goat is tomorrow's throwaway. In college, the onus is on the University to keep the players there as long as possible. In the pros, it's about about what the player is doing for the team right here and now. Yesterday doesn't mean much. So if you're trying to figure out how Jonny Flynn went so quickly from 1st-round-draft-pick to almost-traded in the span of one season, it's actually quite a simple explanation.
The prevailing feeling seems to be that Jonny Flynn and the Triangle offense were not made for one another. The team has two options. It can force Jonny into the system for as long as possible before replacing him with someone else, possibly pseudo-draft-pick Ricky Rubio. Or they can trade him to get or make room for a player that fits. (Or they could stay the course because everything is going awesome, as GM Dave Kahn would have you believe).
So there's that. There's also this business about Wes Johnson, considered by some to be the best small forward on the draft board. The prevailing opinion has been for a while now that the Timberwolves would take Johnson (and presumably followed by five more small forwards) with the fourth pick in the draft. It would a reunion of sorts for Flynn and Johnson, who never played officially together but spent a season on the roster while Wes sat our as part of his transfer.
Now comes news that the Nets, with the third pick, are warming up to the idea of drafting Wes. They were long expected to choose between either DeMarcus Cousins or Derrick Favors but Johnson has proven himself so much more NBA-ready that his stock has been on the rise all week. If that happens, the Wolves will then likely go with Favors, who might just be a better fit anyway.
This could spell big trouble for Dave Kahn, who needs a strong draft to make up for his PointGuardAPalooza mess last season. It's not helping that his ""condescending, abrasive style" makes rival squads uninterested in working with him on deals.
As we all know, no one really knows anything when it comes to drafts. After the first couple picks, all the experts quickly fall off and we realize we've been listening to a bunch of nonsense for the past three months. The truth is, come Thursday night, the Timberwolves might employ Jonny Flynn and Wes Johnson, they might employ one of them or they might not employ either of them. Expect Syracuse fans to show their appreciation for the organization based on how those chips fall.