Draft day: Is Rose blooming?

Vinny Del Negro and Erik Spoelstra may be brand-new head coaches in the NBA who will make some mistakes as they learn the profession. But the new bosses of the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat, respectively, have a lot going for them, too.

They both are taking over teams that are used to being Eastern Conference playoff contenders who had miserable, underachieving seasons. Yet they both still have enough talent on their clubs that improvement appears inevitable.

Plus, they will both get to add a quality rookie. The Bulls and Heat have the top two picks in tonight's NBA draft. Barring a trade or something unexpected, it looks like University of Memphis point guard Derrick Rose will wind up in Chicago, while the Heat will get big man Michael Beasley of Kansas State or star guard O.J. Mayo of USC. All of those three will be prime candidates for the Rookie of the Year award in the 2008-09 campaign.

Here's a look at how the first round could turn out and a little information about the top candidates:

1. Chicago Bulls — Derrick Rose (Memphis)
The scouting report: Most feel that Rose will do for his NBA team, most likely the Bulls, what Deron Williams and Chris Paul have done for the Jazz and Hornets — make their teams better immediately. The 6-3 point guard makes others around him better and he led the Tigers to the national championship game in his only season as a collegian, averaging 14.9 points and 4.7 assists on a star-studded team.

2. Miami Heat — Michael Beasley (Kansas State)
The scouting report: Another player who was one-and-done in college, Beasley is an inside scorer and rebounder, and many feel he is the best player in the draft. Listed at 6-9, he is really smaller than that but is a power forward, and he could compliment Dwyane Wade and Shawn Marion and instantly help Miami return to respectability. However, team president Pat Riley is rumored to not be a big fan of Beasley's. In fact, if the Heat can't trade this pick, they may instead draft Mayo. Beasley averaged 26.2 points and 12.4 rebounds per game while being named the nation's top freshman last season.

3. Minnesota Timberwolves — O.J. Mayo (USC)
The scouting report: Mayo is a tremendously gifted athlete who can do a little bit of everything and at 6-5, figures to play both guard position in the NBA. One knock on him is that he's been treated like a star his whole life, he changed high schools three times and comes across as having some character issues. Still, he proved he could play big-time college basketball in his only season, averaging 20.7 points, 3.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game for the Trojans.

4. Seattle SuperSonics — Russell Westbrook (UCLA)