Derrick Rose had a wonderful NCAA tournament, but was less than spectacular against Kansas. He may have been bothered with a stomach ailment, but he just didn’t look like himself. In a recent column, ESPN’s Chad Ford discusses Rose’s draft stock:
NBA scouts and GMs say that, overall, Rose helped himself more than anyone else in the tournament. Considering he was already the consensus No. 2 pick in the draft, that’s saying something. More GMs than ever are starting to say that the No. 1 pick in the draft should be Rose, not fellow freshman Michael Beasley. While Rose didn’t put up Beasley’s numbers this year, his leadership, position and upside all suggest to some in the NBA that he could have an impact similar to Chris Paul’s in the league. That’s saying something.
We’ll keep monitoring this over the coming weeks. I’d estimate that about 65 percent of GMs I’ve spoken with still have Beasley atop their boards. But the trend is clearly tracking toward Rose.
I think this comes down to what the team with the #1 pick needs. The likely lottery winners are Miami, Seattle, Minnesota, New York and Memphis. I think the Grizzlies would take Beasley (since they already have Mike Conley), while the Sonics, Timberwolves and the Knicks would take Rose. The Heat could go either way depending on what they do with Shawn Marion and whether or not they want Dwyane Wade playing the point or off guard. Generally speaking, it’s tougher to find a game-changing point guard than it is to find a game-changing forward, so that favors Rose. Both guys are can’t-miss picks.
By the way, neither guy has declared for the draft… yet.
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