So who are the Bulls going to pick in the NBA draft?
They would be in the lottery with the ninth-worst record.
The general consensus among team officials is Kansas State’s Michael Beasley is No. 1 and Memphis point guard Derrick Rose No. 2. There is no player regarded as a sure No. 3, though my guess is if the Bulls got the third pick, they’d go for Stanford’s Brook Lopez.
Although the Bulls believe they need an upgrade over Kirk Hinrich, the belief is they’d go for Beasley if they got first pick and Rose if they got the second. You can only move up to the top three spots.
If no team moves up and the standings remain, the Bulls would probably choose between UCLA’s Russell Westbrook or Kevin Love at No. 9.
They’d likely stay away from combo guards like Southern California’s O.J. Mayo and Indiana’s Eric Gordon, if they were to fall that far.
Would they go for another LSU athlete in Anthony Randolph? I doubt it, not after Tyrus Thomas.
From there, the choices are not great.
This Bulls team needs to be more like the Celtics of last season: package the pick with one or two players and perhaps pick up a veteran point guard like Andre Miller. I could also see them pursuing a star player in perhaps a sign-and-trade with Washington for Gilbert Arenas, sort of a go-for-broke summer.
Perhaps Elton Brand tells the Clippers he won’t re-sign and the Clippers cash in for a package that includes Hinrich, Andres Nocioni and the Bulls’ first pick. And if Nene gets healthy, the Nuggets have to move someone.
When June comes, that lottery pick and some players will look more enticing to teams than it does now.
It will be interesting. Hey, Boston pulled it off.
