Burrell Bolts Bulls For Nets

By CBSNews.com Staff

February 3, 1999 / 7:47 PM EST / CBS Sportsline

Forward Scott Burrell, a bench contributor for the NBA champion Chicago Bulls last season, signed a one-year contract with the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but the Nets reportedly used their $1 million exception to sign Burrell. As a player with five years experience, the minimum Burrell could have received was $575,500.

The Miami Heat and Houston Rockets also were among the teams interested in the 6-foot-7 Burrell, who joins his fourth team. The 28-year-old might move to small forward, allowing Kendall Gill to switch back to his natural position of shooting guard as starter Kerry Kittles rehabilitates a bruised kneecap.

"We are pleased to add Scott to our team," Nets coach and vice president John Calipari said. "He is an athletic forward who shoots well from long range. His addition provides us with more options and flexibility with regards to the lineups we can put on the floor."

Burrell was a free agent who had his rights renounced by the rebuilding Bulls. Last season, he played 80 games, averaging 5.2 points and 2.5 rebounds in 13.4 minutes off the bench. He ranked fourth on the team with 51 3-pointers.

In the first round of last year's playoffs, Burrell burned the Nets by scoring 23 points in 24 minutes in a series-clinching Game 3 victory in New Jersey.

Burrell is the only athlete to be selected in the first round of both the basketball and baseball drafts. He was a hard-throwing pitcher in the minor-league system of the Toronto Blue Jays before suffering an arm injury, which derailed his aspirations to play baseball.

The 218-pound Burrell played parts of four seasons with the Charlotte Hornets, who picked him in the first round of 1993. He suffered a torn Achilles tendon late in the 1994-95 season and did not return until late the following season.

Burrell was shipped to Golden State midway through the 1996-97 season. In September 1997, the Warriors traded Burrell to the Bulls for forward Dickey Simpkins. He has averaged 7.2 points on 43 percent shooting in 273 career games.

Burrell is the second free agent addition for the Nets, who also signed guard Eric Murdock. The Nets also acquired center Jim McIlvaine from Seattle and re-signed forward-center Jayson Williams.