Bulls GM John Paxson shouldn't tempt fate. When his team won the NBA Draft Lottery despite a 1.7% chance, he should have taken the hint that the prayers of he and his fan base were going to be answered.And those prayers were to draft Kansas State forward Michael Beasley.
Beasley is the inside presence that the Bulls and their fans have been clamoring for since the Paxson regime took over for "The Sleuth" Jerry Krause. Paxson would be foolish if he were to let this opportunity fly by.
The 6-8 forward is a natural born scorer who is blessed enough to be able to score in a variety of ways from power post moves to shots from beyond the arc. And statistically, he was better than his point guard counterpart.
"Beastley" averaged 26.2 points, 12.4 rebounds and shot 53.2% from the field and 37.9% from the 3-point line in his only season in Manhattan, Kan. After his first three college games, No. 30 proved to the world he was worth the hype, averaging 30 points and 20 rebounds.
While Rose dominated the little sisters of the poor...er...Conference USA, Beasley dominated the monsters of the Big 12, leading the Wildcats to a NCAA Tournament berth and a victory over O.J. Mayo's Southern California team.
Against the National Champion Kansas Jayhawks, Beasley averaged 32 points and 8.5 rebounds. He put up 30 points and 15 rebounds in his only appearance against the Texas Longhorns, who bowed out to the national runner-up Memphis in the Elite 8.
He had 13 games in which he scored more than 30 points. He had 2 games in which he scored more than 40 points, including a career-high 44 in a 92-86 loss against Baylor, another NCAA Tournament team.
Lost in all the scoring is the fact that he only had four games in which he didn't grab double-digit boards. In addition, there were only 5 games in which he didn't record a double-double. For those of you who are mathematically challenged (like I am), that means The Manhattan Man-Child posted 28 double-doubles.
That's not sick, that's ill!
In the end, drafting Beasley would allow the Bulls to build from the inside out. They could team Beasley with Joakim Noah and Luol Deng in the front court. They could deal Drew Gooden, Tyrus Thomas and Kirk Hinrich for a proven NBA point guard and keep Ben Gordon at the two-guard.
Speaking of Thomas, the Bulls chose him with the No. 2 pick over the back-to-the-basket presence of fellow former Big 12 star in Texas' LaMarcus Aldridge. Maybe Johnny Jumpshot should learn from his past mistake.
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