The Sonics failed to capitalize on their great position in the lottery and rather than picking first or second in the June 26 draft, they fell two spots to fourth place.

Seattle had a 38.9 percent chance of landing one of the top two picks, but the team also had a 31.9 percent chance of falling to fourth.

Obviously that means the Sonics will not have a chance to select Memphis guard Derrick Rose or Kansas State Michael Beasley barring a trade.

It appears unlikely that either Chicago, which has the No. 1 pick, or Miami, which has the second pick, will be willing trade partners. Rose, a Chicago native, makes sense for the Bulls and while Beasley would compliment Heat guard Dwyane Wade.

Still the Sonics have the No. 24th pick and four second-round picks in this year's draft. They also have four combined first-round picks in the 2009 and '10 drafts. That's a lot of ammunition of the team wants to pull off a trade.

League sources said the Sonics are very high on Rose and early forecasts say next year's draft hopefuls won't produce a do-everything point guard like the Memphis freshman.

***UPDATE 6:03 P.M.***

Barring a trade, the so-called draft experts say the next tier of players after Rose and Beasley include USC's guard O.J. Mayo, Stanford center Brook Lopez, Arizona point guard Jerryd Bayless and Indiana guard Eric Gordon.

Expect Italian League forward Danilo Gallinari to rise in the draft because European players traditionally are excellent workout players and some GM will be enamored with the 6-9 swingman. The Sonics already have 6-9 Durant and 6-9 Jeff Green on the wing so Gallinari isn't a good choice for them.

Seattle will likely select Bayless, but don't be surprised if the Sonics slide out of that spot and trade with a team that willing to overlook Mayo's off-court allegations and baggage. Many scouts believe that outside of Rose and Beasley, he's the most talented player in the field.

The character issue will likely cause him to fall to New York at No. 5, however, the Los Angeles Clippers, New Jersey and Indiana may want move up. The Sonics could still fill their point guard needs later in the lottery and select D.J. Augustin, who was Durant's teammate at Texas.