Well, I know one thing with more certainty than I did a couple of hours ago – I like the Bulls next year. I liked them anyway – they were going to have a much better coach (presumably), and they have the talent to be reasonably competitive if they are healthy. Don’t forget, at the start of the season they thought that they were just one player – Kobe Bryant – away. This year was a disaster, but it worked out just fine for them in the end. Against massive odds (just a 1.7 percent chance) they won the draft lottery, and they will have the top pick in the draft. They have three choices. They can adjust their perception of Kirk Hinrich and pick Derrick Rose to run the point. They can throw Michael Beasley into their front court and immediately improve their offense quite significantly. Or, they can trade the pick away.

Any of those choices are possible, but if I were a betting man (and I am), I would lean towards Beasley as the most likely, and the trade as the least likely. Beasley would add an instant inside scoring presence, and he would free up the rest of the talented but troubled group of forwards to play more up to their ability because they won’t have as much pressure to score. Luol Deng would especially benefit from having less of a starring role.

If that happens then Rose would head to Miami. That could be very interesting. Dwyane Wade has never had a truly elite point guard to play with. If Shawn Marion could get along with this freakish point guard better than he did with the last one he played with then he could benefit significantly as well. This is another team that could get better pretty quickly. Both Utah and New Orleans got much better fast when they got their young point guards, and neither team had stars of the caliber of Marion or Wade.

I won’t go into as much detail, but the players would fit in just fine if they went in the opposite order as well. This is when the draft is at it’s best – both of these teams were worse than they should be, and both will be significantly improved next year thanks to their pick. Given that they play in the joke of a conference that is the East it wouldn’t be particularly surprising to see either make the playoffs as soon as next year if their new player fits in nicely and adjusts quickly. In fact, I expect it from the Bulls.

The most entertaining aspect to this draft? Definitely the Mike D’Antoni factor. He seems to have screwed over Chicago when he took the New York job, and now Chicago and not the Knicks have a shot at the player he most covets.