Just when you thought it was ok to close your betting notebook on the 2008 NBA season following the Boston Celtics statement 39 point win over the Los Angeles Lakers to win the 2008 NBA Championship you realize there is one more big NBA bet out there.
The Chicago Bulls are on the clock with the No. 1 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft to be held June 26 at Madison Square Garden in New York. So who will go No. 1? Oddsmakers at online sportsbook Bodog (Bodoglife.com) speculate that Memphis University point guard Derrick Rose will get the call. Rose is a -400 money line betting favorite over Kansas State freshman forward Michael Beasley at +250 ML odds to be the top draft choice. Beasley is expected to go second to Miami providing the Heat don’t trade down. Beasley has been in Chicago trying to make his case with Bulls management at the Bulls practice facility. Rose will follow Beasley later this week. The question Chicago faces is need. Do they need a strong scoring presence with Beasley or the best floor general coming out of college basketball in point guard Rose. According to the most recent nbadraft.net mock draft, USC freshman guard O.J. Mayo will go third to Minnesota followed by Arizona freshman guard Jerryd Bayless to Seattle.
Rounding out the top five, UCLA freshman power forward Kevin Love is projected to go to Memphis.
It is also projected the top seven players drafted will be freshman. The earliest projected non-freshman player coming out of college is junior forward Joe Alexander of West Virginia.
The New Jersey Nets expect to take the first foreign player, Danilo Gallinari with the 10th overall pick.
