Derrick Rose: What Would the NBA Look Like If the Miami Heat Drafted Him?

The Chicago Bulls management has made a slew of ridiculously smart decisions over the past 30 years.

They used the third overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft on some North Carolina guard named Michael Jordan, who would become the greatest player to ever lace up a pair of basketball sneakers. 

Three years later, the team traded for a little-known forward from Central Arkansas by the name of Scottie Pippen, who went on to be one of the NBA's 50 greatest players of all time.

Fast-forward to 2008. The Bulls landed the top pick in the draft, which they used to select South Side Chicago native and former University of Memphis point guard Derrick Rose. 

The 2009 NBA Rookie of the Year has proven that he was worthy of being a No. 1 overall pick, as he's made two All-Star teams and, of course, was named this year's Most Valuable Player.

Rose surprising led the Bulls to the league's best record this season and currently has his crew competing in the Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat. 

Speaking of the Heat, Rose could have been running the point for them today instead of his hometown Bulls.

The Heat finished the 2007-08 campaign with a league-worst 15-67 record, meaning they had the best chance of landing the top pick in the '08 draft. However, the 33-49 Bulls, who had a meager 1.7 percent chance of landing the pick, amazingly came out of nowhere to win it.

With the pick, the Bulls drafted Rose, passing up talented Kansas State forward Michael Beasley, who earlier that year, was expected to go No. 1. Miami ended up with the No. 2 pick and took the high-scoring Beasley.

But imagine if the Heat had wound up with the top pick and grabbed Rose. What would the NBA landscape look like today with D-Rose playing his home games down in South Beach instead of the Windy City?  

Well, the Heat would be sporting undoubtedly the NBA's best backcourt, starring Rose and fellow Chi-Town native Dwyane Wade. Rose more than likely wouldn't have won the MVP this year or even be considered a top candidate since he wouldn't be the team's No. 1 option with Wade around. 

Would LeBron James and Chris Bosh have signed with the Heat last summer to join Wade and Rose creating a star-studded "Big Four" in Miami? Probably not. The team could have afforded all four players in the short-term, but eventually wouldn't have been able to once Rose signed an extension.

With that said, James probably still would have made his way to Miami and Bosh would have likely signed elsewhere.

With Rose down in Miami, what would the Bulls' roster look like right now? 

Let's say the Bulls wound up with the second overall pick in the 2008 draft and selected Beasley. Beasley instead of Rose would most likely have meant that the team would have returned to the draft lottery in 2009.

And let's say Chicago ended up with a top-10 pick in '09 and chose a talented point guard like Tyreke Evans or Stephen Curry.

The Bulls probably still would have cleared up a large amount of cap space for the summer of 2010 to make a run at the likes of James, Wade, Bosh, Joe Johnson, Amar'e Stoudemire and Carlos Boozer.

Boozer probably still signs with Chicago, which would have given them a possible starting lineup of Evans/Curry, Keith Bogans, Beasley/Luol Deng, Boozer and Joakim Noah.

A lot of things could have happened if D-Rose had become a member of the Heat. But he's a Bull, which is what he will probably be for many years to come.