If Heat Get First Choice, It Should Be Beasley

Derrick Rose, are you serious?

Don't get me wrong, I love the kid's game. But if the Heat get the #1 pick overall, are we seriously going to draft Derrick Rose?

It is the age-old question, practically, of most-talented vs. most-needed. Should the Heat draft the most talented player in the draft or the position they need the most?

Well, if the answer to that question was not the same then what is the point of picking #1 overall? More importantly, if the question must be asked if a player is the most talented or not, again, what is the point of picking #1?

In either case, it should be clear cut.

Michael Beasley is the most talented player in the draft. That is really not an argument. There are some who think Rose is a #1 caliber pick, but more talented than Beasley? At best it is a debate.

Regardless, Miami - if they are fortunate to get the #1 pick - need to go with the best talent available. Just ask the Trailblazers if they made a mistake going for need instead of talent back in 1984.

New Miami coach Erik Spoelstra would agree. "At this point, it's too early to say and a lot depends on where that lottery ball bounces. We'll do our due diligence and the history of the draft shows, you need to take the best player available." I also picked Beasley for the Heat, should we get the first pick, in a previous article.

The reason is simple, draft history shows that you get the best talent available, not the most pressing need. If that were the case, the Heat, by Riley's own admission, may have gotten Chris Bosh instead of Dwyane Wade if it had received the #4 pick in the 2003 draft. In fact, they beat the Raptors to end that season and if they had not, who knows - maybe the Heat draft at the fourth spot. Did the Heat really need another power forward at that point?

Michael Cunningham, at the Sun-Sentinel, throws his hat into the ring for Rose in the following way, "But there's no need to look at Rose's March Madness or Wade's wishes to see Rose is the answer for the Heat. These NBA playoffs suggest it, too. Ask perplexed point guards Rajon Rondo, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Rafer Alston and Bobby Jackson."

Sounds reasonable, except for one big thing - Dwyane Wade is the Heat's de facto point guard. At the end of games, he is going to have the ball in his hands. That worked in 2006 and truthfully, is there anyone on that list Cunningham just gave us that is better than Wade? Another reason why Rose should not be drafted - he is not better than Wade and Spoelstra is going to be putting the ball in the superstar's hands at the ends of games, not a rookie's. No matter how high his draft pick was.

Because at the end of the day, this team will be built around Dwyane Wade. You also have to keep him happy and drafting a guy to give the ball to for the end of games won't work for Wade. It isn't necessarily an ego thing but has more to do with style of play, Wade needs the ball in his hands to be effective. He is a playmaker and sets up his teammates. One of the reasons why he is among the league leaders in turnovers is because he is involved in more offensive plays than most in the league.

You take the best player available - that is Michael Beasley. You can argue on a given day that Derrick Rose is first pick caliber, but you can't realistically make an argument for Beasley being the 2nd pick.