If you can?t have a transcendent superstar point guard with size like Jason Kidd or Derrick Rose, then Jonny Flynn is prototypically ideal to be any NBA team?s starting point guard.

He is a pure point and an even purer ballplayer.  He is clutch, fearless, an extremely likable teammate and an excellent quarterback that any player would love to play with.

Despite being short in size, Flynn plays much bigger than he looks due to his great strength, explosiveness and body control.  He is close to both Tony Parker and Chris Paul in terms of how he can get into the paint as a scorer.  Flynn is as good as any guard in this draft at scoring efficiently in the lane and that scoring potential will unquestionably translate to the NBA game.

Flynn gets into the lane at will due to the excellent control of his handle and the explosiveness of his not only his first step, but his second step when he will sucker defenders into biting on a change of pace dribble.  He isn?t a point guard that defenders can tightly guard because he will beat up even the quickest of players.

He has the lift to get high on the glass and even occasionally go for a dunk in traffic.  But instead of trying to climb the ladder all of the time when in the lane, he?ll jump stop and go straight up or a little to the side in order to create enough space for an unimpeded opening for his release.  He is acrobatic and improvisational in the air and is also able to protect the ball with his body.

Many guards that are the same height as Flynn, or even an inch or two taller, will struggle to successfully convert in the lane, but he is exceptionally able in this area.  He will score efficiently and frequently in the painted area.

Flynn?s perimeter shot is clearly not a strength, but there is some underlying potential that should eventually emerge.  He has a smooth release, confident form and a good amount of lower body in his shot.  He does have range, but the overall consistency is not yet there.  Flynn is kind of like a gunslinger with his shot, feeling more comfortable on a certain level shooting off the dribble than the simple catch and shoot.

Normally, point guards without a dependable perimeter shot will face sagging defenders, but Flynn?s shot is good enough to respect and he is quick enough to get past anyone no matter how much space they give.

As a passer and distributor, Flynn is excellent.  His dribble sets up his game and therefore his team?s offense, but he doesn?t overdribble whatsoever, always using it with purpose.  Flynn can knife and dish as well as any point guard on the planet, creating easy dunks and layups with great frequency.  He sometimes gets a little myopic when he gets into the lane, considering scoring and a short dish as his two primary options; I would like to see him drive and kick back out to the perimeter more often, especially on a team with good spot-up shooters.

Defensively, Flynn will give up some height against the bigger point guards, which should be counterbalanced with that speed, strength and lift.  Syracuse famously plays almost exclusively zone defense, so Flynn has a long ways to go in simply getting reps in man-to-man where he won?t be able to roam around for homerun steals.  For all of the NBA players Jim Boeheim has sent through, this does put his guys at a clear disadvantage during their first couple of seasons.  Flynn has enough savvy and natural gifts to eventually be a similar type of defender as Chris Paul.

Flynn is one of my personal favorite players in this draft.  His ceiling doesn?t match many of the other players that will be drafted ahead of him, but I have no greater in confidence in any other player to be a solid 10-year franchise cornerstone beyond Blake Griffin than I do with Flynn.

Click here to read RealGM's draft reports on other members of the '09 class.