For the first time in NBA draft history, college freshmen were selected with the first three picks of the draft, and four more would be selected before the 15th pick, setting another record for the lottery. Only two really mattered, though: Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley. Yet, oddly enough, only one of them was wanted. Both Miami and Chicago were completely enamored with Derrick Rose, in fact, it was so bad, that Pat Riley spent the week leading up to the draft trying to find a way to get out of selecting Michael Beasley. The Bulls ended up taking Rose, but should they have?
Let’s take a trip down memory lane. It’s February, the season is coming to an end, and everyone is gearing up for the tournament. Beasley is completely assaulting the Big 12, dwarfing the numbers put up by fellow freshman phenom Kevin Durant, who destroyed basically every freshman record known to man the previous year.
With his ability to finish with both hands, score from inside or out, rebound, and block shots, it almost seemed as if he was created in a laboratory to be the perfect modern big-man. This guy was going to be a problem. There’s was no doubt in anyone’s mind, Beasley was the best first year player we had ever seen, and the consensus No.1 pick in everyone’s mock drafts
Now, while you’re at it, go ahead and take it back to a year ago.
Greg Oden and Durant, who ushered in the freshmen era of College Basketball, were the consensus top two in the draft, these guys were so good, in fact, that teams were deliberately tanking games to raise their odds in the lottery. Durant was the one with the superfluous talent, but, unfortunately, his team bowed out to USC early in the tournament, like Beasley. Oden entered the collegiate ranks with much fanfare, but due to injuries, he was forced to the sidelines early on. But, like Rose, he carried his team to the NCAA finals, only to lose in the championship game.
During this time Oden shot past Durant on most draft boards, and ended up being taken first by the Blazers. Durant was selected second by the Sonics.
This year the same thing happened. Despite being the most dominate player in the collegiate ranks for the entire season, just or not, everyone began to justify Beasley’s heart. The go-to diagnosis by the draft experts was that he didn’t have a ‘champions drive’. Shouldn’t he get some credit for single handidly carrying Kansas State to the tournament and past USC in the first round?
How this is a measurable attribute is beyond me, and, from the looks of it, it seems that the playing field was drasitically skewed in Rose’s favor. Never mind that Rose had a superior coach, supporting cast, and facilities. He got his team to the final, so he suddenly has more drive than Beasley. Is Paul Pierce suddenly a better player now that he has a championship ring? Is Chris Paul a lesser point guard than Rajon Rondo?
While the stocks of both Oden and Rose rose due to their tournament performances, there is one major difference: Oden is a big man. The NBA has always been infatuated with building around a center. The last time a player under 6′8 was taken with the number one pick was in 1996 when the 76ers took Allen Iverson. Since then, every player taken with the top pick was either a center or a power forward with the exception of Lebron James.
Basically, it comes down to need and fit. The Bulls needed a point guard and a leader; they haven’t had either for a long time. They already have Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Thabo Sefolosha, Chris Duhon and Larry Hughes, but none of them are true point guards. They also could use a force down low. Andres Nocioni, Noah, Joe Smith, Ty Thomas, and Drew Gooden are good second options, but none can be considered a go-to-guy.
Although, the roster shouldn’t matter, you draft the best player and build around him. Sure, Rose is an instant improvement over any of their guards, so you make room for him through a trade, but what are you really going to get back? They aren’t going to get anything better than what they already have in the post. Beasley will be able to step in and be a difference maker from day one, I’m not so sure Rose gives you that.
He has court vision beyond his years, and he’s super unselfish, something this team needs with all their weapons, but, unless Rose transforms into Chris Paul 2.0, this could end up being a huge mistake. Hinrich To justify this pick he’s going to have to be drastically better than any of the guards they have. Not right away, but in a few years. If he doesn’t get there John Paxson is going to look like a major idiot.
But wait, the reason the Bulls drafted Rose ahead of Beasley is because they need leadership. This was a team that fell apart at the seams last season, and let’s faces it; Beasley is a huge character risk. He went to about 32 high schools and signed his name on his principles car. Big deal. Granted, Beasley isn’t going to step in and lead a team, not now, maybe not ever. It’s too soon to tell, he’s a kid, but from the looks of things, neither is Rose. Last season with Memphis he was hardly known to say a word in the locker room, but he did earn the respect of his teammates with his hard work and determination.
It’s easy to see why the Bulls took Rose, it was the easy pick. He’s the hometown kid, he’s a legit talent, and the risks are minimal. The character flaws that scared everyone away from Beasley may have been overblown a bit, but, when juxtaposed to the squeaky clean Rose, he is somewhat of a risk. I don’t know, though, 20 and 10 from day one looks real nice to me.
At the end of the day, the Bulls got a great player with a ton of upside. Beasley may have been the better player all along, but Rose isn’t that far behind. You got to love a kid that told the press that Beasley was way better than him in the weeks leading up to the draft. But someone should tell Pat Riley he got a gift. Marion, Beasley, Wade. If you ask me, that’s a monster.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I see what you are saying about Rose being better than the Bulls guards already but is that necessarily so? He’s a much better athlete than Gordon or Hinrich to be sure but can he shoot the ball as well as they can?
The measure of a point guard isn’t points scored, assist to turn overs, or rebounds. It’s the won loss record. Ballers know that. In all of sports there are only two positions where the W/L record is the standard of measurement, Quarterback and point guard.
As a point guard D.Rose was 38-2, the best single season in NCAA history. It can be argued that he is the best point guard to every lace up a pair of sneakers. Only time will tell.
Celtics won because they had a better point guard. Swap PG’s between the Celtics and Lakers and the Lakers are champions.
D. Rose will be starting by Christmas and all of a sudden, all the other players will look like all-stars. Chicago will go to the finals next season.
John-
I don’t know if I can agree with that. By that measure Rajon Rondo is a better PG than Chris Paul. Ron Haper would be considered one of the greatest of all time because he was the Bulls PG when they won 72?
Sure, Rose is great, but like Harper, they are only as good as their supporting cast is. Assists to TO’s, points, rebounds, steals, all that stuff that point guards do, lead to wins.
Further mroe, place Rose on K-State last year in place of Beasley, and he would have lost a ton a games, he wouldn’t have been very valuable with just Bill Walker. He would have been great, but he wouldn’t have won 38 games.
I see where you are going with this, but I have to respectfully disagree.
wow nck to say you respectfully disagrees is very very nice of you! john you are out of your mind! first to say that rose may be the greatest pg to lace up a pairs of sneakers is not just ridiculous its comical. you re gonna label that man with that title after ONE year of college basketball in confrence usa? ya i guess i could see how he’s probably better than isiah and his two titles or john stockton and his untouchable records. ya for sure, go derrick rose! and last time i checked jordan was credited with those 6 titles not ron harper and randy brown and shaq and kobe for those three not d.fisher and brian shaw. think about what you say before you say it……
anyways good article nick you know who i thought the bulls were gonna and shouldve picked. beasley’s gonna be a monster this year!
Okay. What?
John you’re out of your mind. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a die hard Bulls fan, I love the Rose pick. But if you’re expecting a championship in his rookie season i’d ask you to check the label on your medication.
As for drafting Beasley… Yes, they needed a strong player in the low post. Someone that could play solid defense and score down low. But that player is not a 6′7 1/2 inch rookie. If that’s the case what was the point of all those KG rumors (for the past 5 years)? The Bulls need a big man in the vein of Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan, KG. Guys like that are a rarity in the NCAA. We don’t even know if Beasley will play PF at all. He might be more suited to SF (which Chicago has plenty of). John Paxson was aware of the low post needs when he signed Ben Wallace. He was aware of this problem when he traded Eddy Curry for expiring contracts. It’s not a new problem to have.
The Bulls did draft for need in this case. Hinrich while a fine defender has proven to be an absolute horror show on the offensive end. Considering that the team gave him a 47 million dollar extension they’ve dug a hole that may be difficult to get out of. Gordon on the other hand is what he is. A shooter. He’ll put up shots until they fall. He’s not a hard one to figure out. Larry Hughes is a bricklayer (always has been, always will be). Sefolosha to this point has been a disappointment.
Alot is going to be made of Derrick Rose’s shooting %. But let’s get this straight. This is the NBA not some fluffy euro league.They have these things called “assistant coaches” to deal with that problem. Lebron James was considered a lousy FT shooter with a suspect outside shot. Does anyone really care right now? No. Because he’s still King James at the end of the day.
PG isn’t designed to be a shoot first position anyway. The basic breakdown of the position is as a distributor. Push the tempo of the offense and find the open man. If Derrick Rose can do that in the NBA he’ll be a fine addition to the team. No matter how vocal he may or may not be. Some people learn by watching, some people learn by listening, and others just have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.
Derrick Rose leads by example. He puts in the physical effort, the hard work. Does it really matter if he’s a rah-rah-rah guy?
Rose and Beasley will be great players in the NBA. However, I do think Rose was the right choice at #1.
Yeah, maybe Riley got a gift. We’ll see. But the real gift came to the Bulls. Hello 1.7% chance. Hello Derrick Rose. We’re thrilled to have you.
i have an idea, since you think the bulls should have selected beasley why dont you follow his 5 highschool attending kista to miami, im sure they can use some more fairweather fans. we have rose and we are happy with him, its a done deal. so you can continue to write your shoulda coulda woulda blogs, but do it in south beach, we dont need you.
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