With the NBA draft less than 24 hours away teams are heating up the phones, working deals, and trying to figure out who they want to take. Most of the hype leading up to the draft was which player would go first, Memphis' guard Derrick Rose or the do-it-all Kansas State big man Michael Beasley. However, at the clock gets ready to strike 12, USC and former North College Hill guard O.J. Mayo is entering the discussion.

With the Chicago Bulls expected to take Memphis guard Derrick Rose in Thursday's NBA Draft, the Heat have been sending mixed messages, telling one NBA official that they planned to take and keep Kansas State forward Michael Beasley but telling another NBA official that they are concerned about his maturity and are interested in USC guard O.J. Mayo, the Miami Herald reports.

Mayo averaged 20.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists during his one college season, leading Southern California to a 21-12 record and an NCAA tournament berth.

The Heat worked out Mayo and guard Jerryd Bayless Tuesday in Miami, and ESPN reports the team is seriously considering taking Mayo second overall. Mayo's off-season has been tainted with a recruiting  scandal, but it's not his or the team that drafts him problem, rather USC that will have to deal with it.

"He is the most NBA-ready of the guards in the draft, and I think is a really good prospect," ESPN's Jay Bilas said of Mayo. "The idea that somehow he's tainted. ... First of all, if it's true, he's certainly not alone. He's just one of the guys that it's surfaced on. And second, it's hardly anything that the NBA would concern itself with."

Both the Seattle SuperSonics and Memphis Grizzlies have made offers to Miami for the No. 2 pick, an NBA GM tells the Herald.

Its hard to imagine that Beasley would fall down to the No. 3 spot. The 6-foot-8 forward led NCAA Division I in rebounding (12.4) and was third in scoring (26.2) as a freshman. The Timberwolves, who sitting behind the Heat with the draft's thrid pick on sure hoping he does.