TTCS has openly stated our feelings towards the Bulls’ pick throughout much of the week. Just for those who are unaware, we want Rose… real bad. However, Beasley is no slouch either. I am going to try to play devil’s advocate for a minute and give the blogosphere ten reasons why Chicago needs Beasley.


(Photo Courtesy of http://feetinthepaint.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/beasleyx.jpg)

10. A day-one impact player
Nobody in the draft has a chance to contend for the ‘09 MVP award but Beasley. He obliterated everybody in a very difficult Big 12 last year, including a dominating 25-point performance in a win over National Champ Kansas. He also dropped 39 on the Jayhawks in a loss in late January. If looking for day-one impact, I would even take OJ Mayo over Rose. Sun-Times legend Mike O’Brien made of the truest statements about the Bulls: “The Bulls will never be good because they have the worst- ‘best player’ in the league.” B-Easy would make Al Jefferson and Rudy Gay look like they should go back to high school And Kevin Martin back to Mexico.

9. He won the Naismith trophy
The rest of the K-State team was not bad, but just about every win was because of Mike’s efforts last year. Rose had just as good a chance of winning this award with a better supporting cast. Bill Simmons said last year’s award winner Kevin Durant was maybe the best NBA prospect of all-time, and a year went by and Beasley obliterates his numbers. I wonder what Simmons thinks about him?

8. A better shooter than Rose
Ricky O, always says you cannot argue with stats, a valid point, especially in this topic. He shot 53% from the field last year, 38% from three, and 77% from the line. All of these are better than Rose’s shooting numbers. (48% from the field, 34% from three, 71% from charity stripe) The numbers don’t lie.

7. A guy who can finally guard a premiere big guy
Ben Wallace was brought in to stop Shaq, which he did sometimes, but had a rough time with other more athletic guys like KG, Gasol (etc.) Now he’s gone (thank God) and the Bulls are left with a lanky Noah and a slow Gooden to do the trick, which is not terrible, but Beas can be a true stopper and can guard both swingmen and power forwards.

6. Hinrich is a year removed from an all-defensive team
While the captain had a terrible season this year, everybody is allowed to slump once in a while. Are we just going to throw away Kirk’s hard work the past half decade because of a sub-par season? We quickly forgot his lockdown abilities, and if Rose is taken, they will surely never be seen again in Chicago and his talent will be wasted.

5. Once in a lifetime doesn’t mean what it used to
Derrick Rose may be once-in-a-lifetime point guard, and while point guards are the most valuable person on the court, there were multiple “once-in-a-lifetime point guards” drafted in the league in the past seven years right now. (Paul, D. Williams, Parker, Devin Harris, who will be better than Jason Kidd) While Rose may be better than all of them, to say that Chicago needs to draft him because who knows when the next great PG is going to come along is a load of horse plop. I will put any amount of money that the next great guard comes out within three years.

4. He is a great rebounder
The Bulls were terrible grabbing boards next year. Drew Gooden was good for nine boards a game but he only played in 18 games. Deng’s 6.7 rpg a game is not bad for a contributor, but not with the second highest total on the team. Enter Beasley, who grabbed a nation’s best 12 rebounds a game. Expect no less than 10 a game next year.

3. The Bulls will stop drafting power forwards
First there was Tyrus. Then came Joakim. And now, the grand solution to the problem; Mr. Michael Beasley. While he will lack in the first-name department, that is where it ends. He’s not lanky, he is not goofy, he is just better than both of them. This will be the final saga in the search for the next great PF.

2. Finally, a go-to scorer
Little Ben was an ok guy to give the ball to with the game on the line, but the only time he would be touching the ball would be to in-bound it to Mike. Like I stated earlier, he may be the body of a four, but the guy can shoot too, the ultimate package with the ten seconds left in a game. He will be a better version of Shawn Marion, with a more competitive attitude.

1. He is not from Chicago.
A Derrick Rose homecoming would be awesome, do not get me wrong, but the last time this happened, it was an absolute disaster. (See Curry, Eddie) Rose loves the fact that he could play in front of his friends and family all the time, and while that may be great for him on the court, his friends are teenagers, which could lead to trouble, or at the very least, a huge distraction. Another problem that we have seen with young talents recently in sports coming from less prosperous neighborhoods is that people all of a sudden feel as if the talent owes them something. Michael Vick is in jail because of “hood loyalty” and there is strong belief that it cost Sean Taylor his life. By no means am I insinuating that this will be the outcome of Rose’s life, but the fact that he will be closer to these potential problems could be enough to steer the Bulls away from their hometown star.