How Did That Happen?

With the Bulls winning yesterday’s lottery, I thought it would be good to get a reaction from one of the team’s fans. Luckily, we have one who has written for us before. John Nguyen, take it away.
-Chris


It’s a great day to be a Chicago Bulls fan. We’re not supposed to be here. We defied the 1.7% odds and won the number one pick. This pick should be called, "Good Karma."

This pick pretty much made up for many of the mistakes made since Pax took over; not trading up in 2003 with the number 7 pick and Marcus Fizer for Wade or even Chris Kaman, giving Hinrich and Nocioni huge contract extensions, not getting Iguodala and Al Jefferson, passing on Brandon Roy, listening to Scott Skiles too much, signing Ben Wallace, dumping Tyson Chandler for nothing, not getting a big man coach sooner, messing up Tyrus Thomas’ development, not pushing Skiles enough to develop Ben Gordon at point guard since 2004, and the pandora’s box created by Kobe, Gasol, and Kevin Garnett trade talks. Contrary to Dwayne Wade, the Bulls deserve the top pick because they did not tank like Miami this season or Boston of 2006-2007 for Greg Oden.

The Rose vs. Beasley debate has begun to who should go number one.

Both men are potential franchise players. Both men will be all stars. So who do you choose? More importantly, who does Paxson choose?

Michael Beasley is being compared to a better version of Derrick Coleman, a rich man’s Carmelo Anthony, a black Dirk Nowitzki, Antawn Jamison meets Amare Stoudamire.

Derrick Rose is measured up against Chris Paul and Deron Williams and has a high potential of Tony Parker with better defense and superior court vision, a more athletic version of Gary Payton, Jason Kidd with a jumpshot, Dwayne Wade with true point guard skills, and a more athletic Deron Williams. Some have even come out and say that he’s a mix of Isiah Thomas and Scottie Pippen.

Who sounds more appealing?

For me, it’s Derrick Rose. He is the best player available at number one. He’s too dynamic; an all in one package who boosts everyone else’s value for future trades. Rose is a prototypical point guard who only comes around once every 5 years with his amazing athleticism. Paul and Deron are not even that athletic. Rose’s basketball IQ and intangibles are off the charts shown in the NCAA tournament. He just needs more work on his jumpshot. That’s about it.

Don’t get me wrong, Beasley will turn out to be a stud, too. He’s just not dynamic enough. He doesn’t play defense and doesn’t really make anyone better. A GM can always find a scoring forward like him. There’s no dry spell there. He’s also a tweener but I don’t have problem if Pax takes Beasley though. Please remember that Chicago is not supposed to be here at number one. We were stuck at number nine. Even Pax didn’t watch the draft lottery.

Pax is in a situation where he cannot mess up with either kid.

I’ll repeat it again like how Dante from Clerks say it, "We’re not even supposed to be here!" So Bulls fans shouldn’t be mad if we take Beasley yet by taking Beasley we are drafting by need, not BPA.

The obvious choice is Rose. He’s is the starting point on winning a title maybe even winning multiple titles. It’s time to think big. Do the Bulls have a log jam at guards? Duh. Does that make Hinrich the odd man out? Absolutely. By getting Derrick Rose, Kirk already lost his starting job. He should be sweating bullets right now as we speak since Pax has praised Rose more than Beasley. Hinrich fans will try to negotiate and say, "Hinrich can be the starting 2 guard."

That’s just illogical. Hinrich cannot play the SG spot. Get that out of your heads right now. I really mean it. SG means shooting guard. Last time I checked, Hinrich can’t shoot or create his own shot. He’s not a volume clutch scorer like Ben Gordon. He never was and he will never be that type of player.

A Rose/Gordon backcourt sounds much menacing than a Rose/Hinrich backcourt don’t you think? Then you might say, "Hinrich can play defense where Ben’s is nonexistent." Again, where have you been this past season? Hinrich’s D is laughable, hanging on to past reputation. Hinrich will never ever be 2nd team all defense again because Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, and Rajon Rondo will battling for that. We also have Thabo Sefolosha who is the utility guard providing more length and defense so why should Hinrich be on the team now? Kirk cannot be a 6th man either because his contract is too high to be on the bench registering 20-25 minutes a game. It’s more beneficial to keep Gordon a little bit longer because he’s a basketball machine who keeps training. He will inspire hardcore work ethic in Rose and can help him in developing his jumper.

Larry Hughes and Andres Nocioni are the other odd men out. If no one takes Hughes in a deal, buy him out. The last best possible thing for Hughes is to get expiring contracts for him. Pax has to consolidate his assets and try to get another big player for Rose; a 1-2 punch. Drew Gooden is not good enough to win a title. There are some names dropped: Elton Brand, Emeka Okafor, Jermaine O’Neal, Michael Beasley, and Carmelo Anthony. To be able to even think about Beasley or Melo, Pax has to work a sign and trade with Deng. If Pax can pull something like that off, hand him the GM of the Year award for 2008-2009.

Even if Paxson got Beasley, that roster still needs more retooling. He still has to consolidate talent to get another good player to play with Beasley.

"How did that happen? We’re not even supposed to be here!" Yet, here we are. It’s time to make the most of it now.

[top image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/philchambers/]