What’s The 401?!?!

Chicago Bulls Land First Pick In 2008 NBA Draft

The NBA Draft Lottery was held before Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals last night, and for the second straight year a surprise team jumped up to nab the top spot.  This year that lucky team is the Chicago Bulls. 

The Bulls were expected to compete for the Eastern Conference Championship this year, but got off to a horrendous start that was partly attributed to the nonstop Kobe Bryant trade rumors.  Chicago has a talented team built around forward Luol Deng and guards Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich.  With Hinrich locked up for the next five years the speculation has been that the Bulls will pass on Derrick Rose, and go after Michael Beasley to help their low post game.  It’s also very possible that Chicago will package Hinrich with some of their other young players and select Rose. 

If I were Chicago GM John Paxon, I go with the second option.  Kirk Hinrich, while a solid player isn’t going to get any better, and right now he’s not a top tier point guard.  It’s very likely that Derrick Rose will be that type of top flight player that Hinrich is not.  You only have to look as far as the New Orleans Hornets to see how the addition of a great point guard can impact the fortunes of a team.  Chris Paul is not the only example either.  Where would Utah be without Deron Williams?  Now I doubt that Rose will be as good as Paul, but he’ll be better than Hinrich and possibly as good as Williams.

When you look at it from that perspective the decision is really a no brainer.  Send Hinrich packing…draft Rose and reap the benefits.

Of course, not everybody agrees.  Here’s a smattering of early mock drafts from top sports blogs and sites out there.

FanHouse likes Michael Beasley as the top pick.  The Big Lead also likes Beasley.  As does Chad Ford over at ESPN.  And Dime Magazine.  While SLAM seems to think Hinrich is on the way out.

It looks like I’m in the minority on this one.