It has come to my attention recently that Washington may want out of their pick if they fall lower than the number 1 spot. With their pick still high enough to grab Florida SG Bradley Beal, would anyone be interested in the Bulls making a move for it? It's usually very hard to move into the lottery, but only three years ago the Wizards gave away their #5 pick in a much better draft for Mike Miller and Randy Foye, so it might not be as hard as one might think. Perhaps the Bulls can make the following trade:

Bulls get: 3rd pick in the 2012 NBA draft and Andray Blatche.

Wizards get: Kyle Korver and Rip Hamilton.

Why the Wizards do it: The Wizards need to start playing good basketball right now. Or at least not horrible basketball. Towards the end of last year they began to win a few games with a new, defense-first identity, and offensive rebounding. The problem is they do not have enough 1) scorers and 2) veterans who know how to play winning ball. Korver and Hamilton can give them both these things better than anyone on their current roster. Also, with the addition of two more legit players the Wizards will have something approximating a real NBA lineup. Additionally, they get to dump Blatche's contract and general knuckleheadedness, improving both their short term locker room chemistry and long term cap flexibility.

Why the Bulls do it: This very much depends on your thoughts about Beal going forward. If you like him a lot, he potentially provides things the Bulls really need while strengthening their core group of players. Beal can potentially give them go-to scoring, 3pt shooting, ball handling and young legs to help win games and make Derrick's job easier.

However, even if you like Beal a lot you still have to acknowledge this is a risk. Beal might give the Bulls go-to scoring and 3pt shooting in the future, but it is a little worrisome that he did not do those things in college. Actually, I'm not that concerned about his 3pt shot. His mechanics look good and he had a reputation in high school of being Ray Allen-esque. I'm fairly comfortable asserting his freshman season was flukey shooting-wise. His low scoring though does worry me. Stud wing players, even ones on good teams, score 20 points per40. They just do. Beal fell far short of that at 17.4. Even if you pretend he shot 40% from 3 his freshman year, that puts his per40 scoring at 18.5. His excellent rebounding/steal/block numbers suggest he can be a 2-way player in the NBA, and he's only 18 years old, but are you convinced he can be a #2 option at the next level?

I really think I do this if I am the Bulls (and assuming this works out CBA-wise-- I'm an idiot when it comes to that stuff). Role players can always be had through the draft and free agency if you are sufficiently intelligent. The difficult thing is to acquire and retain a core group of players that can keep you contending for a long period of time. Right now the Bulls have a long term core of Rose/Noah/Taj and maybe Deng. Adding a player like Beal could push that group over the top.

I also like the timing of this for Beal's development. With Rose and Deng out and the season wasted next year, Beal would have the opportunity to take on a lot of offensive responsibility. And, of course, learn how to play from an elite coach/teacher like Thibs. Here's a highlight video of Bradley Beal:

Bradley Beal Highlight Mix (via BasketballHighlight Mixes)