Derrick Rose will save the Bulls

I feel dirty. This whole thing is just completely filthy. It’s like blatantly cheating on a test that all your friends studied hours for, and you get an A while they all get Cs. That’s what the Bulls winning the lottery feels like. Let’s make one thing clear: the Bulls do not deserve this. Not one bit. They’ve screwed up literally everything in the past year. But in basketball, way more than any other sport, one guy makes such a big difference. The ping pong balls somehow worked in the Bulls favor last night, and it saved them. Without this pick, who knows where the franchise ends up?

To quickly address something I’ve seen all over the Internet, from columns to away messages: Pax really can’t go wrong either way. This isn’t Rose or bust. If you have read this site, you know I want the Bulls to take Rose. I think they will. I hope they do. But Michael Beasley is a hell of a basketball player. Remember all the admiration Durant got last year? Simmons basically called him the best NBA prospect since Jordan. Well, as Stompy pointed out months ago, Beasley absolutely obliterated Durant’s numbers. If the Bulls take Beasley, and there’s a good chance they do, no one should be all that angry. Beasley is awesome, and really, he may fill more a need.

All that being said, this is what felt like when the Heat came up #2.

Basically, this is the best fucking thing ever. Derrick Rose, maybe the best Chicago-born basketball player ever (at least since Isiah Thomas) is probably becoming a Bull. To that I say Fuck and Yes.

As Stompy said below, you win in the NBA now with great point guards. Derrick Rose is just that. He’s like a mix of Chris Paul and Deron Williams. NBA Draft dot net compares him to a Dwyane Wade-Jason Kidd combination. The point is, Rose is the next great NBA point guard. There is zero bust factor here. Derrick Rose will be a star. He’ll easily be the Bulls best player since MJ and will immediately take over for Urlacher and Hester and Chicago’s most beloved athlete. I really believe that.

Working in high school sports the last year, I’ve realized how much city basketball means to a lot of people in Chicago. About a month ago, one CPS coach called Rose “the public league’s Obama”. He’s that important. He would be anywhere, but this is an even bigger deal now. Derrick Rose is (probably) coming home.

There’s a lot of time between now and the draft, which takes place on June 26. So read Blog-a-Bull, Chad Ford, Draft dot net, Draft Express, and everyone else. Maybe some don’t think this is such a big slam dunk. Maybe it’d be smarter to take Beasley. But Rose means so much to this city already and he’ll be a legend if the Bulls take him. Here’s hoping it happens.

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While we're here, the point of journalism is supposed to be that you are fair and unbiased. Then you see the front page of the Sun-Times today. There's a huge picture of Rose that simply says "The One." across the top. The back page? A picture of the skyline with Rose soaring through it. Ridiculous? Of course. Awesome? You bet. I'm sure some old school journalism types will hate that back page, but it's just totally sweet. The Sun-Times is supposed to be the city's newspaper; Rose signifies Chicago basketball better than anyone.

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By the way, check out my top ten reasons the Bulls should take Rose over at TTCS.