In Which We Start Contemplating the Endless NBA Draft Scenarios

Everyone hates Michael Beasley. This much is certain. As a sidenote, it's become increasingly clear to me that Beasley is cultivating a post-Arenas craziness as a way of selling himself. Imagine the commercials with him and BFF Durant. Oh, the contrast! I mean, what else can you concluse after those batty notes from his Bulls interview. Or, speaking of batty, formerly mild Pacers forward Danny Granger officially expressing his desire to build a secret entrance like Bruce Wayne (from FanHouse, who got it from Cornrows).

But no one gets this, and so Draft Express has this hot theory out in the ether:

Presuming that Derrick Rose goes #1, Miami would select Michael Beasley at #2 regardless, and wait to see if O.J. Mayo were to fall to the 5th overall pick. If that indeed was the case, Memphis would select him, and then trade him to Miami along with Mike Miller in exchange for Mark Blount and Beasley.

Seattle is also reportedly trying hard to move up to #2, and is dangling Chris Wilcox as bait (in exchange for the cumbersome contract of Mark Blount). The Supersonics would also take Beasley there. This is all assuming that O.J. Mayo doesn't go third to Minnesota, which is not something teams should take for granted just yet based off what we know so far.

There's a mouthful to get through there, but I'll try briefly. Rose at #1 is foregone. He has even started to part his hair like Paxson. Both of these rumors assume that Mayo could fall as far as #5, which strikes me as unlikely. If nothing else, he has trade value in this draft. Durant and Beasley united would be rad, but Beasley doesn't exactly strike me as a Bennett/Presti/NEW SPURS type. The Memphis scenario seems more likely. They need a replacement for Pao, and Mike Miller seems like he's already been on the Heat for the last six months.

Last year's draft was all about (supposedly) amazing prospects being providently littered throughout the league. This time around, we've got a combination of potentially great players, real wild cards, and a lot of teams looking to deal. This, my friends, is what a draft should look like.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.