Nets Get Tall With Muresan

August 12, 1999 / 10:33 PM EDT / CBS/AP

The New Jersey Nets signed Gheorghe Muresan, the NBA's tallest player, to a one-year contract Thursday.

The team also re-signed free agent forward Scott Burrell. Terms of the deals were not disclosed.

The 28-year-old, 7-foot-7 Muresan hasn't played for most of the past two seasons because of injury. He was signed in May for New Jersey's final two games and then became a free agent. He has been playing in the Boston Summer League.

"Gheorghe is an effective low-post scorer and his addition bolsters the depth of our front line," Nets general manager John Nash said.

Muresan was Washington's second-round pick in 1993 and played four seasons for the team, averaging 10.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.

He sat out the entire 1997-98 season, and most of the 1998-99 season with a stretched tendon in his ankle and a compressed nerve in his back.

The 6-7 Burrell averaged 6.6 points and 3.7 rebounds in 32 games for the Nets last season, scoring a season-high 18 against Seattle on April 16.

Burrell, who has averaged 7.1 points and 3.5 rebounds in a six-year career, had surgery to repair a tear in his right knee on April 24.