Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley top fresh faces

NEW YORK — Michael Beasley strolled into a hotel ballroom Wednesday, spotted the swarm of cameras surrounding his table, and jokingly asked Brandon Rush if he wanted to switch spots.

The guy Beasley really may want to swap with is Derrick Rose.

Rose is Beasley's competition for the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, and the winner will be announced tonight when commissioner David Stern announces the selection.

The Chicago Bulls own the pick, and Rose would love to play for his hometown team. When the Bulls won the lottery despite only a 1.7 percent chance, Rose immediately thought of LeBron James, the Akron, Ohio, kid picked first in 2003 by nearby Cleveland.

"I thought that LeBron James was the luckiest person because he got to play in his hometown," Rose said.

Rose, the point guard from Memphis, and Beasley, the Kansas State power forward, sit atop a deep freshman class that could gobble up most of the spots in the top 10.

O.J. Mayo of USC, UCLA's Kevin Love, Arizona's Jerryd Bayless, and Indiana guard Eric Gordon are among the other first-year stars who might already be earning NBA paychecks if not for the age requirement forcing American-born players to be at least 19 years old and a year out of high school.

"We can have possibly eight players from our class in the lottery, so just hearing that I feel like we have a lot of star power in this class," Love said. "We're a pretty deep class as well, and I feel like hopefully we'll be able to step up our games and impact the NBA."

While freshmen are expected to dominate the lottery picks, a few teams made trades.

The Toronto Raptors have agreed in principle to acquire forward Jermaine O'Neal from the Indiana Pacers for point guard T.J. Ford, center Rasho Nesterovic, the 17th pick in the draft and a player to be named, Yahoo reported.

While Yahoo reported the deal, citing an unidentified NBA executive, Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo told The Canadian Press that he was in the midst of "four or five" conversations with teams involving Ford and a combination of Toronto's No. 17 pick and/or other Raptors players.

A deal can't be finalized until July 1, when Ford's base-year compensation tag comes off the books, and Yahoo said O'Neal and Ford must still pass physicals.

The Nuggets traded the 20th pick to the Bobcats on Wednesday in exchange for a future, protected first-round pick. The Bobcats, who also hold the ninth pick on Thursday, may now get a chance to address needs at center and point guard.

The Nuggets, meanwhile, will have no picks today.

The New Orleans Hornets have agreed to send their first-round draft pick, the 27th overall, to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for cash.

Beasley had the best individual year, leading the nation with 12.4 rebounds per game and ranking third with his average of 26.2 points. But if the Bulls opt for Rose, Beasley isn't even guaranteed to go second, with Miami possibly more interested in trading the pick and grabbing a guard to pair in the backcourt with Dwyane Wade.

"One, 2, 3, 78, I just want to get there," Beasley said.

Hurting Beasley's chances of going first are questions about his height. The draft media guide lists him at 6-foot-10, and he said a doctor measured him at 6-8 ¾ in bare feet. Still, there are some concerns he may be smaller — perhaps too small to play the 4 spot in the NBA.

"I didn't know there was a height requirement in the NBA," Beasley said.

The Bulls haven't revealed publicly which way they are leaning, but Rush, sitting at the next table, said Beasley was the "best player I've seen in college, since I've been in college." His Kansas team faced Beasley in Big 12 play, then beat Rose and Memphis in the national-championship game.

Minnesota, Seattle and Memphis hold the Nos. 3-5 picks.