You heard it from the Memphis point guard himself. He and his brother say they will not visit Miami before the Draft. There is no need. Their minds are made up already. Rose has hired former Bulls guard B.J. Armstrong as his agent. I can't say that I'm stunned. Derrick Rose is from Chicago. The prestige of being the #1 overall selection would be quite alluring to anyone. And the Bulls, like it or not, are closer to a championship than the Heat.
That said, the future is still bright for Miami if they decide to select Kansas State forward Michael Beasley and be done with it. Remember that for most of the college basketball season, this guy was it. It isn't his fault that the fickle winds of sports opinion have swung wildly in favor of Rose recently. Beasley's amazing talents have not faded in recent months. He has not suffered serious injury. He is still universally projected to be an NBA all star by all reputable draft experts.
Drafting Beasley means the Heat will have a superfluity of power forwards. One of them needs to be let go to make room for the man-child. The Heat still need a point guard - badly. The Bulls now could use a power forward. If I were Riles, I'd propose a Udonis Haslem for Kirk Hinrich trade (maybe throw in a little Marcus Banks for them, since he's useless). We could have Hinrich and Chris Quinn at point guard (yes, I know Shaq would disagree with me here, but Quinn proved very suitable in last year's NBDL lineup we fielded). I'm not too unhappy with a starting lineup of Hinrich, Wade, Marion, Beasley, and Zo.
Friday, June 20, 2008
"I Hope The Bulls Pick Me," Says Rose
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7 comments:
I don't think Zo will fit in with the new heat team. Spoelstra and Wade have been talking about how up tempo they want to be now, and an old center coming off ACL surgery seems like a bad combonation. I know we don't have much other options, but Zo seems like a poor one to me.
I'm really excited to see Dorrell this year, he always looked best sprinting up the court with Dwyane throwin down alley oops, now he'll be doing that constantly.
Zo is definitely not the best of fits, but he is essentially all that the Heat have. Mark Blount and Earl Barron were far less impressive with their youth and fresh legs than Zo was when he was healthy (he was still a defensive and shot-blocking force). The answer, of course, is neither Zo nor Blount nor Barron - it is new blood.
Riley is seriously considering trading away from the #2 spot and taking a center like Stanford's Brook Lopez, and he wouldn't be completely dumb to do that, although I personally think that Beasley is a far too attractive prospect to let slip away.
If we trade away from #2, I fear we'll regret it as we watch Beasley's star rise with some other team for years to come.
I see Zo fitting in with any offense, as long as his minutes are kept at a moderate level. He was always in good shape, even after the kidney problem.
Also, I have one bone to pick with this piece.
Are the Bulls really closer to a championship? I don't think they are. They took a MAJOR step back last year and made awful trades. The Heat were just injury prone and old. The Heat, in my opinion, are knocking on the playoff door, while the Bulls are in disarray.
Lastly, isn't this shaping up for a Yi situation...Chicago passes on Rose and he's "forced" to Miami. That would make my day. D-Wade should call him as a fellow Chicago native.
You may be right, Asponge. But even in spite of the trades, look at the talent on the Bulls roster: Derrick Rose (assumption), Luol Deng, Andres Nocioni, Ben Gordon, Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah, Thabo Sefolosha, and Chris Duhon. One thing the Celtics proved in their championship run this year was the supreme importance of depth.
Our depth just cannot be compared to that. The big question in deciding who between the Heat and Bulls will be better next year is how well Flash has recovered from injury. If healthy, he (and only he) can be the equalizer given the Bulls quality (and young) depth.
I really like Beasley a lot more than Rose. Rose strikes me as the type of player who won't just speak his mind, but will make bad decisions in other directions. Beasley also seems like a better teammate. But those are just guesses, at this point though, i like beasley on the heat a lot more than rose
Christian: We're all starting to feel that way. Crazy how this stuff happens...soon enough, so will the Bulls and Rose will fall to #2.
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