Follwing the honorary sacrifice of the 2007 - 2008 season, the basketball Gods answered Chicago's prayers Tuesday night in the holiest of places, Secaucus, Dirty Jerz, honoring John Paxson with the gift of choice.

Choice 1 | Draft Michael Beasley

What did the Bulls need most early last season (aside, obviously, from actually making shots)?

Inside scoring.

What is Beasley's strongest asset?

Inside scoring.

Thus, clearly the logical choice would be Beasley, right?

Maybe.

The Bulls still could use some inside scoring, but following the Ben Wallace trade, things have changed a little. Drew Gooden is not an All-Star, but he is an above average scorer from the power forward position. Combine him, with the development of Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah and Aaron Gray, and the Bulls post offense does not look as dire as it did last December.

That said, Beasley is still obviously a beast, and it would be hard to call drafting him a mistake. He is already better than any of the other post players on the roster, and bringing him in, could allow Pax to make some moves with his current big men; which, are his best current assets.

Choice 2 | Trade

Do the Bulls really need yet another young player?

Haven't they gone down this road before?

Yes, and all they got out of it last time, was a series of early playoff exits, followed by a complete collapse the year everyone finally gave them some credit.

Between this pick, Deng, Gordon, Hinrich, Nocioni, Gooden, Thomas and Noah, Paxson really has some attractive trade pieces. OK, maybe, Hinrich is mot so attractive.

He could package the pick and any group of these guys, along with Hughes' bloated contract and maybe get back a legit All-Star in return. All the Celtics needed for Kevin Garnett was Al Jefferson and a bunch of expiring contracts. Some names that could be available include: Tracy McGrady, Allen Iverson, Jermaine O'Neal and Baron Davis amongst others.

Choice 3 | Draft Derrick Rose

Add another guard? Sure, that's a great idea, I mean all the Bulls have in the backcourt is Kirk Hinrich, Larry Hughes, Ben Gordon, Thabo Sefolosha, all battling for minutes. Another backcourter is exactly what they need.

And sometimes the sarcastic fool is also the sage, as a top-flight guard is precisely what this franchise requires.

Aside from the fact Rose is far, far better than any of the four above, he is also something none of them are: a legit point guard. Larry, Ben and Thabo can swing to the one at times, and Kirk has been starting there for years, but none of them are by any stretch of the imagination a respectable distributor.

Bringing Derrick on board would mean at least two probably would have to go, but that is fine. Not only will he make the remaining guards better, he would make things much easier for the big men, as well. That would make up for the inside scoring given up by passing on Beasley.


Will Derrick Rose step into the foreground for Chicago next fall?
shundaroni - Flickr.com

Thus, although the first two choices do make sense, I vote for option three. If they take Beasley, the inside scoring will improve, but the guards will not. With Rose, both will improve. Plus, it would expose what talent Tyrus and Joakim actually have.

Consider Tyson Chandler, pre and post CP3.

And, while trading for an All-Star would be swell for press clippings, there just do not seem to be enough viable options out there who would have as big an impact on the squad as Rose would. Besides, they still can package some guys together well enough to get a serious difference maker to play along Derrick.

Even if they do nothing to change their current roster, save keep Deng and Gordon, I would take my chances with:

1 - Rose, Hinrich
2 - Hughes/Gordon/Sefolosha ( Any of the three could start with Derrick)
3 - Deng, Nocioni
4 - Gooden, Thomas
5 - Noah, Gray

Needless to say, it has all of a sudden become a very exciting time to be a Bulls fan, and through an absolutely insane set of circumstances, last season's abysmal failure may well turn out to be the greatest thing that has happened to the franchise since drafting Michael Jordan.

Remember, it was an odd terrible season by the Spurs with David Robinson injured all year that allowed them to grab Tim Duncan, and you know how that turned out.

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Photo by shundaroni | "A brief warmup."

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