Lottery win a blessing, or a curse?

OK, Bulls fans, maybe it's time to go out and buy Mega Millions tickets.

You just might be on a hot streak. You might even land that date with Charlize Theron, get that high-paying, low-stress job you interviewed for, and have the MRI on your vital organs come back negative.

Anything is possible after Tuesday night, when the Bulls converted a 1.7 percent chance into the No. 1 overall pick in next month's NBA draft.

"You have to be lucky," said Bulls general manager John Paxson. "Tonight was our night in that regard."

Now the trick is to make the right pick. It's possible they won't, you know. They didn't plunge to 33-49 last season by outsmarting everybody on recent draft nights.

But if the Bulls do make the right pick, they'll officially be back in the NBA and Mike D'Antoni can eat his heart out after spurning their overtures to become their head coach.

The Bulls' roster is so messy it makes their lottery good fortune a bit messier.

The process should be simple: If you need a point guard take Derrick Rose, and if you need a big man take Michael Beasley.

A team lucky enough to move up in the lottery from No. 9 should need one or the other. The Bulls need both. Actually, they need a point guard like Rose, a low-post presence like Beasley, a go-to guy at the end of games, a superstar to become the face of the franchise, and so much more.

A measure of how needy the Bulls are is that other teams sent luminaries to represent them in the lottery like head coach D'Antoni (Knicks), legend Larry Bird (Pacers), former NBA Finals most valuable player Dwyane Wade (Heat), current NBA rookie of the year Kevin Durant (SuperSonics) and entertainment mogul/team minority partner Jay-Z (Nets).

The best the Bulls could do was their MVP -- marketing specialist Steve Schanwald, who lured fans to the United Center the past decade to see poor to mediocre teams.

(If the NBA were in a charitable mood and inclined to fix the lottery based on pity, the Bulls might have been the No. 1 choice to receive the No. 1 pick.)

Anyway, which of the two consensus top prospects should the Bulls embrace?

Well, if Rose is everything so many analysts insist he is, the Bulls should take the Chicago native and Simeon High product.

These Bulls need a point guard who can control the ball, the tempo and the future.

If Rose is the next in the line of point-guard prodigies Chris Paul and Deron Williams, then, yes, draft him without hesitation.

If he isn't, they have to turn to Beasley. This guy appears to be as special at his position -- swinging between small and power forward -- as Rose is at his.

Beasley's upside isn't guaranteed either, however. Some think there's a bit of a knucklehead factor with him that has to be evaluated.

With the power of No. 1 comes the responsibility of selecting a player who will be great, an all-star, perhaps even a Hall of Famer.

Makes you wonder whether the Bulls wish they were picking second so somebody else could make the decision for them.

You do hear all the time about people ending up on skid row after winning the lottery, don't you?