NBA Trade Rumors: Why Jonny Flynn Won't Help a Contender

Trade rumors are beginning to heat up surrounding Houston Rockets guard Jonny Flynn, last seen with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who selected him No. 6 overall in the 2009 NBA draft.

But Flynn has never lived up to his hype out of Syracuse, and he's not fit to help a contender at this point.

ESPN the Magazine's Chris Broussard reported on Monday:

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Knicks and Lakers ask Rockets about Jonny Flynn, sources say. New York mentions Renaldo Balkman/Mike Bibby. Houston not interested. Nothing imminent w/ either team.

"

I understand why the Knicks and Lakers may be interested. Baron Davis still seems to be a ways from returning to the floor for the Knicks, and the Lakers have recently scratched off Ramon Sessions and Gilbert Arenas as possible additions.

But as John Hollinger of ESPN notes, Flynn is basically a shoot-first guard who can't score.

Hollinger writes:

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The biggest problem is his poor decision-making on the move, which resulted in an astronomical turnover rate for a shoot-first point guard. Flynn's other problem is nearly as serious, however—he's a scoring guard who can't score. Flynn can create shots, but he's neither a good outside shooter nor adept at drawing fouls, and his size is a problem when he goes into the paint to finish. Even if his percentages improve, his shockingly low free-throw rate will have to improve dramatically if he's going to offer much in the way of an offensive boost.

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On top of that, Flynn is not a very good defender, nor is he a good rebounder at his position. How would that help the Knicks and Lakers, who have defensive liabilities all over the floor?

But it's not just that Flynn isn't a good addition for the Knicks or Lakers. He's not a good addition for a contender, period. He's averaging 40 percent shooting for his career and shot under 37 percent last season with the Timberwolves. His assist-to-turnover rate is also not very good.

So what you're basically getting is a poor overall player. No contender wants a poor player, regardless of how many minutes they give him.

There's a reason why the Rockets didn't pick up Flynn's team option for the 2012-2013 season. There's a reason why he's going to be an unrestricted free agent after this season.

In short, Flynn is not a good basketball player.