Finally time for Bulls to punch ticket

The NBA draft finally will arrive Thursday, not a moment too soon.

By then the Derrick Rose-Michael Beasley debate will have lasted nearly as long as the Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton nominating process did.

"If anybody thinks I'm going to give something away today, I'm not," said Bulls general manager John Paxson at a media briefing Tuesday morning.

In other words, we'll have to wait a few more days before learning whether Paxson picks the favorite (Rose) or shocks the world with the longshot (Beasley).

"I'm not trying to be coy," Paxson said. "There doesn't seem to be any purpose in saying what we're going to do."

As if a finalist on "Dancing with the Stars," Paxson fancy-footed around about 20 different questions on whom the Bulls will select.

That dead end drifted toward whether preparing to make the NBA's first overall draft pick was starting to feel like preparing to vote in a political race.

I mean before deciding, Paxson will have had to ponder all sorts of issues, albeit frivolous like guard or forward rather than dangerous like war or peace.

"It's very much like that," Paxson said of the election, er, draft process.

Of course, he does see at least one distinction. "We can't go wrong," Paxson said.

Well, that's not exactly true. Rose could turn out to be a thorn and Beasley a rose, or vice versa. Heck, both could be unworthy of being picked first - one as the second coming of Chris Duhon, the other as a poor man's Tyrus Thomas.

Hopefully Paxson won't do what I do in most political elections - flip a coin and hope for the lesser of two evils.

Even though the Bulls have been as methodical in their player evaluations as they were in their search for a head coach, they're not likely to surprise again by picking, say, a backup center from Northwestern.

It'll be Rose or Beasley, and fans have argued over them from the moment the Bulls climbed from ninth to first by winning the draft lottery.

Rose - no, Beasley - the point guard - no, the big man - the hometown product - no the worldly outsider -

Seriously, as the debate raged, Rose-Beasley did start blurring into Obama-Clinton. Rose is an Obama point guard trying to scoot around the defense, and Beasley is a Clinton power forward trying to muscle the opposition.

Coincidentally, Rose and Obama, the presumptive choices by the Bulls and Democrats respectively, first became known on the South Side of Chicago. The runners-up, Beasley and Clinton, have had several addresses along the road toward today.

Speaking of similarities, there's the matter of alleged dream tickets. Some Democrats like the idea of Obama picking Clinton as a running mate. All Bulls fans love the thought of Rose and Beasley running together.

The Bulls would keep the No. 1 pick, trade for No. 2 and wind up with Rose and Beasley - dream on, folks.

While the Bulls are at it, maybe they could pick up LeBron James on waivers and trade Joakim Noah for Dwight Howard.

Anyway, let's try for the 21st time - who will the Bulls take?

"We're probably leaning a certain way," Paxson said. "But over the next 48 hours a lot of things can happen."

Yeah, like John McCain coming to the Berto Center for a workout.

mimrem@dailyherald.com