Bulls' Choice: Beasley or Rose?

The Chicago Bulls had just a 1.7% chancce of winning the NBA's version of the lottery on Tuesday night, and now they face the big choice: Beasley or Rose?

The consensus seems to say that Rose is the lock for #1 pick in the draft, however he is a PG and the Bulls have Hinrich. Hinrich could always slide into the shooting guard role. Beasley would give the Bulls even more size upfront, but some say he may have some red flag issues. As a longtime Bulls fan, I'd say the Bulls should do what they should have for several years now: make a trade for veteran talent to help them in the playoffs.

The Bulls already have a very talented young team which has achieved playoff status over the past several years. Hinrich, Duhon, Gordon, Noccioni, Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah..the list goes on. While they are one of the youngest and most talented teams around, they failed to make the playoffs this season. In the past, they tried to add Ben Wallace to the mix, but he never quite gave them the boost they were expecting. They made the new trade with Cleveland and Seattle to acquire guys like Larry Hughes, but that really won't solve much. The Bulls could package their pick along with some of their other talent and acquire a guy who's been in the league 5 years, to give them that extra talent they need. A friend of mine even suggested they make a trade involving Kirk Hinrich and some other players to get Yao Ming. They could draft Rose and have a nice inside-outside combo along with all their other talent.

There's definitely other teams in the draft who are eyeing that top pick, so we may see a trade between spots, and some guys shift teams. New York is one team that desperately wanted to win the lottery. At the 6 spot, they have a good shot to acquire OJ Mayo and get rid of Marbury, who's been a problem child. Come June we may see a wild draft with several teams jockeying for those higher picks. Quite possibly the Bulls will be this year's Boston Celtics in the draft and make a smart, big move to acquire the star power they need.

See a Mock NBA Draft list for speculation on who's going where.

Ben Wallace's Central Division Tour

Ben Wallace's Central Division Tour

The Cavs finally pulled the trigger on a move to bring in more talent to help out Lebron's quest for an NBA championship. On the final day of NBA trading, Cleveland orchestrated a 3 team trade involving 11 players total. The big name, Ben Wallace came to Cleveland as Drew Gooden went to Chicago. Here's a look at who each of the 3 teams got in the deal.

Chicago Bulls
Drew Gooden, F
Larry Hughes, G
Cedric Simmons, G/F
Shannon Brown

Cleveland Cavs
Ben Wallace, F/C
Delonte West, G
Wally Sczerbiak, G/F
Joe Smith, F
Bulls 2nd round draft pick (2009)

Seattle Supersonics
Ira Newble, F
Donyell Marshall, F,
Adrian Griffin, G

The trade is pending approval from the Commissioner's office. Charles Barkley on TNT's pre-game coverage Thursday night seems to like the trade for the Cavs as it gives them a much needed point guard and better defense/rebounding. Barkley added that Wallace should play better with Lebron James than he was in Chicago. However, it still remains to be seen if this brings Lebron and the Cavs back to the NBA Finals, but on paper it looks good for the Cavs.

See TheClevelandFan.com's analysis of the deal

It's also starting to look like Ben Wallace is on a seasonal tour of the Central Division as he's played for Detroit, then Chicago and now Cleveland. Indiana and Milwaukee take note; if Wallace doesn't pan out in Cleveland, go for the deal!

Here's some of the other trades completed Thursday:

¶The Portland Trail Blazers sent guard Taurean Green to Denver in exchange for guard Von Wafer.

¶The Detroit Pistons shipped center Primoz Brezec to Toronto for guard Juan Dixon.

¶The New Orleans Hornets acquired Mike James and Bonzi Wells from Houston, in a three-team deal in which the Hornets sent guard Bobby Jackson to the Rockets.

¶The Rockets, in a separate deal, acquired guard Gerald Green from Minnesota, in exchange for guard Kirk Snyder. (Source: NY Times)

The Bad News Bulls?

Something is amuck in the Windy City. The Bulls are definitely the biggest surprise of the early NBA season as many fans are seeing. This team, predicted by many to be one of the top 3 out of the East has come out of the gates with a winless start, 0-4. Unexpected and almost inexplainable. According to a recent Chicago Sun-Times article, one bright spot was rookie Joakim Noah's recent debut. Despite that, one would have to wonder why is this team not winning games?

Looking at the Bulls' stats, you have 4 guys scoring in double digits, with Ben Gordon leading the way at 20.5 points. Kirk Hinrich's production and Ben Wallace's production seem off and sub-par compared to what either player is capable of. Hinrich was a point guard for a Team USA squad a few summers ago and now seems like he's a rookie with just 11.5 ppg and 4 assists per game. Wallace is also playing like a bench role player picking up just 4.3 rebounds a game and 1.5 blocks. This isn't the guy Chicago wanted to land from the former champion Pistons. They wanted the Big Bad Ben, capable of snatching tons of rebounds and intimidating offensive minded players.

Bright spots for the Bulls are Tyrus Thomas who's pulling almost 7 boards a game and 8.3 points, and veteran Joe Smith who's also giving about 10 points a night and almost 7 rebounds. But overall this team of tremendously talented players needs to start finding ways to produce and win, or they will be competing for a lottery pick, not a spot in the Finals.

On the other hand you have a reverse surprise, the Los Angeles Clippers who are undefeated without Elton Brand. They recently defeated the aforementioned Bulls. It's amazing and suspicious all at once in a very tough Western Conference.

It's Early for the East

The clocks have been moved back 1 hour for Daylight Savings Time, so it's early on the East coast. It's also early for the Eastern Conference, but there's been some interesting developments so far.

- The surprise of the young NBA season so far would have to be an undefeated Indiana Pacers team. The Pacers have gone 3-0 beating the Memphis Grizzlies, Washington Wizards and Miami Heat. The Pacers team webpage is already saying the Pacers are a team who's able to find ways to win and asking if they might fit into the playoff picture. If so, the East is more competitive than we all thought. The Bucks and Sixers haven't looked terrible so far and they were predicted to be near the bottom of the Conference this season. Remember, it's still early.

- The other surprise although it is early is the Chicago Bulls. They've dropped games to both the Pacers mentioned above and the Bucks, who are two teams you might have considered out of contention this year. Looking at stats, Ben Gordon is leading them and is one of 5 double-digit scorers. Ben Wallace's numbers look subpar with just 4.5 rebounds per game, 2 assists and 1.5 blocks. They need his rebounding and defensive help, although Tyrus Thomas may take that on. Again, it's early and you can't possibly believe a team like Chicago won't turn things around and go on a win streak. Getting Kobe would have been nice, but now that it seems unlikely, the Bulls can get on track. The Bulls despite their losing ways are giving away an SUV on their website.

-The Celtics aren't so much a surprise. The Big 3 did their thing in their opening game and defeated the Washington Wizards. Ray Allen, KG and Pierce combined for over 60 points in the win which is a good sign of things to come should they stay healthy. It didn't help either that Gilbert Arenas talked a bit of smack to Boston and it fans on his blog.

- Gilbert Arenas is also considered to be struggling, as his stat lines aren't looking nearly as nice as last season. Gil's coming off an injury and rehab and is most likely still working himself back. However, he seems to like making premature blog statements against teams like the Boston Celtics. Bad idea.