As a Bull Beasley Would Fill a Hole

With the NBA draft just one week away, speculation about who the Bulls will select with the first overall pick is heating up. Most mock drafts have the Bulls selecting Derrick Rose, including ESPN.com’s, usually the most trustworthy of the bunch.

The more I think about it, the more difficult this decision becomes. My initial reaction was that you cannot pass up on a talent like Rose, but Beasley fits such an on-the-court need for the Bulls that he’d be hard to pass on. The Bulls have been a jump shooting team for years, really since they traded Elton Brand to the Clippers in 2001, and it’s hard to maintain consistent scoring when the only options you have come from outside. The Bulls desperately need someone who can score down low, preferably from the four spot, which is precisely what Beasley would provide. The Bulls had LaMarcus Aldridge for all of ten minutes on draft day two years ago before they shipped him to Portland for Tyrus Thomas, a trade which Portland appears to have won hands down. Aldridge is already an accomplished scorer and would be a perfect fit for Chicago, while Thomas is floundering to find an offensive game and spends most of his time on the Bulls bench. Beasley would be a way to rectify that mistake, but his care-free attitude and concerns about his character may scare off John Paxson, who highly values character and work ethic. Derrick Rose’s soft spoken, humble demeanor and great work ethic may be the thing that puts him over the top. Plus, teams often pick the best overall player over team need, and I believe that Rose is the better overall prospect.

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