Bulls sign lotto picks

[dasox24]

July 27, 2004 -- The Chicago Bulls announced today the signing of 2004 Lottery picks Ben Gordon and Luol Deng. Per team policy, terms of the contracts were not disclosed.

 

Gordon and Deng recently led the Bulls summer league team to a 2004 Reebok Rocky Mountain Revue league-best record of 6-1. Deng, named to the All-Revue team, finished with averages of 15.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg and 1.71 spg in 28.1 mpg, while shooting .440 from the floor. Gordon averaged 13.5 ppg in 25.5 mpg, shooting .426 percent from the field and .864 percent from the free-throw line.

 

Chicago selected Gordon, an early entry candidate, in the first round (third overall) of NBA Draft 2004. The 6-3, 200-pound guard spent three years at the University of Connecticut where he helped the Huskies to the national championship during the 2003-04 season. As a junior, he averaged a team-leading 18.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg and 4.5 apg. He earned First Team All-Big East honors and was named a member of the 2004 NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team.

 

Gordon left UConn as the school’s all-time leader with 242 three-point field goals and finished second in career three-point field goal percentage at .423. In three seasons with the Huskies, Gordon, 21, averaged 16.9 ppg, 4.1 apg, 3.9 rpg and 1.2 spg, while shooting .440 from the floor and .795 from the free throw line.

 

The 6-8, 220-pound Deng was originally drafted by the Phoenix Suns in the first round (seventh overall) before being traded to the Bulls on draft night in exchange for Chicago’s 31st pick (Jackson Vroman), a conditional future first-round pick and an undisclosed amount of cash.

 

Also an early entry candidate for NBA Draft 2004, Deng played one season at Duke and averaged 15.1 ppg and 6.9 rpg, shot .475 from the field and .710 from the free throw line. He was named Third Team All-ACC and was a unanimous ACC-All Freshman honoree. Deng, 19, was also named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Atlanta Regional during the Blue Devils’ run to the Final Four.

 

 

On a totally unrelated note, It's been a long time since I saw the banner in my sig... I think it was the last one on Soxnet.net before it went down... That was a sad day for me, but at least the board never died and now we have Future Sox!