The Bulls, to the surprise of no one, took Derrick Rose of Memphis with the top pick. Not bad for a team with a 1.7 percent chance of winning the lottery. If ex-Suns assistant GM Vinny Del Negro didn’t already have enough pressure on his shoulders in the City of Big Shoulders, adding Rose to that talented roster certainly ups the ante.

There is no reason to believe the Heat won’t follow with Michael Beasley at No. 2. Let’s see.

The Suns came into the draft/offseason looking for help behind three starters — Grant Hill, Steve Nash and Shaquille O’Neal.

If Boris Diaw remains a Sun, which appears to be the case, he will be Hill’s backup at the small forward spot, by virtue of his improved play there during the playoff series with San Antonio. The Suns feel they can find someone in free agency to play 18-20 minutes a night behind Nash (although they’ve said that for four years now and have yet to stumble upon that fellow).

That leaves a backup for O’Neal, someone who is NBA-ready and can carry the load when O’Neal is sidelined by either injury or foul trouble — both of which figure to befall him in some form next season. And in that vein, Stanford’s Robin Lopez offers a 7-footer the Suns can plug in for long minutes, a few blocked shots and some viable size inside.

It’s not a sexy pick. It might not be the right pick. But for an organization that feels it is bench depth away from staying in the championship conversation, it’s a logical pick. All you have to do is buy into that logic.

As expected, Grant Hill has picked up his player option for next season and will be paid $1.976 million for his 15th NBA season.

Hill, who will be 36 by training camp, appeared in 70 games for the Suns last year, his most in a single season since 1999-2000, including starts in 34 consecutive contests to open the season. He averaged 13.1 points and shot 50.3 percent from the field. But he aggravated a groin/abdominal injury late in the season and was ineffective in the first three playoff games against the Spurs before shutting it down for Games 4 and 5.

The injury did not require any surgical procedure, and Hill has told the team that he is ready to go for training camp after rest and rehabilitation.

While it appears either or both Brandon Rush and Robin Lopez might be on the board when the Suns draft at No. 15 today, those in the organization will be keeping tabs about what happens in front of them as it relates to LSU power forward Anthony Randolph.

As those in the lottery seem more and more smitten with the point guards and center prospects offered by this class, Randolph (who was projected as a high lottery pick a month ago) might slip down. And if he happens to get past Sacramento at No. 12 and whoever winds up picking at No. 13 (Portland is still trying to move up for a guard), the Suns might have to ditch their plans for a “help now” player to take a project who might have the biggest upside among the bigs in the draft.

Randolph is 18. He game is raw. But averaging 15.6 points and 8.5 rebounds as a freshman with the Tigers is just scratching the surface of what he can be down the road. He lacks strength and is a poor free-throw shooter, but those are fixable attributes. The fact that he can leap out of the gym, run the floor, hit the 15-foot jumper and has the wingspan to become a top-notch rebounder and shot blocker easily tips the scales in his favor.

It looks like the Suns can’t move Leandro Barbosa or Boris Diaw, so they might be able to address the lack of depth at center or wing in free agency (Alando Tucker will also get a shot) and take a chance on a player who will need time to develop. Randolph has many of the same qualities Amare Stoudemire had coming out of high school, both positive and negative (which means defense will have to be a priority). If he’s still there at 15, the temptation to take him instead of Rush or Lopez will be great.

As you might expect, Sheriff Joe Arpaio has maximized the publicity potential of Shaquille O’Neal.

Two years ago, Joe made sure the cameras were rolling when he made Shaq a special deputy. And when Shaq became a Sun, Arpaio gave him a battlefield promotion to colonel of his celebrated posse.

But that was before Shaq’s R-rated freestyle rap on Kobe Bryant — caught on video and offered up by TMZ.com this week — offered up another chance for face time. Joe thinks The Big Cactus’ off-color conduct is lower than green bologna and pink underwear and, with the red lights blinking, is calling for O’Neal to turn in his tin.

“If any one of my deputies did something like this, they’re fired,” Arpaio said. “I don’t condone this type of racial conduct.”

All of this, of course, is setting up the O’Neal apology to and reinstatement by Arpaio, completing a trifecta of publicity for two men who never met a medium they didn’t like. I just can wait to see Arpaio donning a jockey outfit in Shaq’s next Vitamin Water commercial — with a catchy rap ditty in the background.

Right now, the Suns have the No. 15 pick and are on the phones looking to move up or add a pick with Leandro Barbosa and Boris Diaw the main bargaining chips for a deal.

What should the Suns do? Stand pat and add a player at 15? Use L.B. or Diaw to move up? Use them for extra picks later in the first round or obtain a veteran player who can help right away? Here’s your turn to play GM. I promise to pass your ideas along to Steve Kerr (fingers crossed).

Now out of his jockey outfit and back into his rap clothes, Shaquille O’Neal, um, dedicated his latest licks to his old friend Kobe Bryant Sunday at a New York nightclub.

The rap, which can be seen in its entirety on TMZ.com, pokes fun at the Lakers’ loss to Boston in the NBA Finals and the fact that Bryant couldn’t win a title without him. “You know how I be,” he sang. “Last week Kobe couldn’t do without me.”

O’Neal goes on to blame Kobe for his impending divorce along with several other interesting lines. “I’m a horse. Kobe ratted me out,” he rapped. “That’s why I’m getting divorced. He said Shaq gave a [girl] a mil. I don’t do that ’cause my name’s Shaquille. I love ‘em, I don’t leave ‘em. I got a vasectomy, now I can’t breed ‘em.”

Shaq spoke to ESPN.com Monday and said the rap was all in jest and that he and Kobe have long ago buried the hatchet.

“I was freestyling. That’s all. It was all done in fun. Nothing serious whatsoever. That is what MCs do. They freestyle when called upon. I’m totally cool with Kobe. No issue at all. And by the way, don’t forget, six albums, two platinum, two gold. Anybody who knows me knows I’m a funny freestyler … Please tell everybody don’t make something out of nothing.”

Check out the video and judge for yourself. Be forewarned, the video is only bleeped in certain areas.

 Arizona shooting guard Chase Budinger and West Virginia guard small forward Joe Alexander are among the final group of six draft hopefuls to visit US Airways Center for a Thursday workout. Alexander is a long, athletic, smart forward that has risen to lottery-level status. His erratic 3-point shooting might not appeal to the Suns, but his ability to score almost everywhere else will. Budinger is a scorer with crazy 3-point range along the lines of Dan Majerle. His sophomore season was a disappointment at Arizona, but he’s still a sure-fire pick in the first round. Scouts worry about his aggressiveness, strength and ball-handling. If the Suns wind up with a later pick to go with No. 15, Budinger could be a consideration. On Friday, GM Steve Kerr and vice president of basketball operations David Griffin will head to Oakland for a two-day evaluation camp hosted by Golden State. At least seven teams will get a look at as many as two dozen players at the mega-workouts, including Kansas shooting guard Brandon Rush — a player the Suns are known to have a keen interest in.

 So a few weeks before he faces sentencing, just as the NBA Finals switches to the country’s second-largest media market, Tim Donaghy’s is doing all he can to shorten his time in prison and begin his disgraced life in seclusion by “revealing” all he know about the behind-the-curtain workings of the NBA.

 And conspiracy theorists, especially those who think all sports are rigged and orchestrated for profit and the almighty television ratings, are lapping up what Donaghy is serving with a glee.

 See? We told you it was fixed! It wasn’t just one referee. The NBA is in charge of who wins and loses!

 There are the same people who believe the government is hiding the existence of UFOs, and that the moon landings actually took place on a television soundstage.

 Some experts say there is no way Donaghy would like because if that is proven his sentence will be longer. But there is no way to disprove what he said he heard. No paper trail that would either prove his story or vindicate the league. Even if the other referees say Donaghy is lying – it’s their word against his.

 Those who want to believe sports is fixed are going to believe it. Same with Santa Claus and the Loch Ness Monster. Good luck convincing them of otherwise.

  Bob Delaney, a highly-decorated New Jersey State Trooper who put away dozens of underworld figures while working undercover before becoming an NBA referee, worked Game 6 of the 2002 Lakers-Kings series that Donaghy intimates was fixed. He couldn’t comment in detail, but he did say this to ESPN:

 “This is not the first time a known or convicted criminal has lied about me before the judicial system. I have extensive law enforcement background, and still train police officers. I have dealt with criminals and informants, and I know full well they are capable of doing and saying anything.”

 Jose Canseco was proven to be right. So was Brian McNamee. And with a year to find some fishy games with lopsided foul numbers, Donaghy’s lawyer wouldn’t be worth his salt if he couldn’t find a few that Donaghy might have known something about.

 But I’ll let the grassy knoll folks roll with Donaghy. I’ll stick with Delaney.

Here are the players the Suns looked at Sunday:

 Aaron Bruce

 Shooting guard, Baylor (6-3, 185 pounds, 23 years old)

 The Numbers: Lit up the Big 12 as a freshman (18.2 points a game. 47 percent shooting) but was limited to only 17 games by injury as a sophomore and never got back to that lofty level. A good shooter from 3-point range (although he slipped some as a senior) and .

 The Skinny: A hard-nosed player who can score, but there are too many other factors (a lack of size, quickness, athleticism) for him to be rated highly by any draft experts.

 Nathan Jawai

 Forward/Center, Australia (6-10, 270 pounds, 21 years old)

 The Numbers: The big body jumps out at you right away, and he’s mobile for a big man. Can shoot from the outside, although the inside game takes precedence. Has a 7-foot-5 wingspan but isn’t a big shot blocker.

 The Skinny: The man they call “Baby Shaq” and “Aussie Shaq” didn’t start playing basketball until he was 15 and still has a lot to learn. But the size and raw ability will get him a look in the first round.

 Robin Lopez

 Center, Stanford (7-0, 245 pounds, 20 years old)

 The Numbers: An early entry candidate, Lopez is the less offensive minded of the Stanford Lopez Twins – brother Brook is a sure-fire, top-10 pick. Robin is known for his defense, shot-blocking and energy. But offense is a struggle outside of put-backs and dunks, and his free throw shooting just a bit better than Shaq-like.

  The Skinny: He’s a big body with a good motor so he’ll get first-round attention. But he’s not the game-changer his brother can be, nor will he be asked to do that. For teams looking for defensive muscle inside, he’s attractive.

 JaVale McGee

 Center, Nevada (7-0, 237 pounds, 20 years old)

 The Numbers: An early entry candidate, McGee has come from nowhere into top 15 because of his tremendous projected upside. But he’s very raw right now and hasn’t played against top-notch competition on a consistent basis. There are questions about consistency and desire. Comes from an athletic family: Mom (Pamela) was an all-American at USC and played with Cheryl Miller for the Trojans before moving on to be both a player and coach in the NBA, while dad (George) played college ball at Illinois and was drafted by Portland in 1985.

The Skinny: If the Suns are set on someone who can help right away, McGee isn’t the guy. But his raw skills and potential is jaw-dropping and a comparison to Amare Stoudemire isn’t that far off because of his athleticism and explosiveness as a leaper. Someone will roll the dice within the first 17-18 picks.

 Marreese Speights

Forward/Center, Florida (6-foot-10, 245 pounds, 20 years old)

 The Numbers: An early entry candidate. With the cupboard bare after two national championships at Florida, Speights stepped up for the Gators as a sophomore and delivered 14.5 points a game and led the team in rebounding (8.1) Has good defensive and shot-blocking skills along with a nose for the basket on offense. He has an NBA body, although playing center might be asking too much.

 The Skinny: There are work ethic and conditioning questions. Said he only wanted to spend two years in college and is coming out, although another year in school might have helped. A guy who has been projected all around Phoenix’s No. 15 pick, but doesn’t seem to fit their mold – although that mold is under a metamorphosis.