Long Shot Bulls Get First Pick In NBA Draft
posted 12:03 am Wed May 21, 2008 -
(Sports Network) - The Chicago Bulls came into the NBA Draft lottery with just a 1.7 percent chance of landing the top pick, but pulled it off on Tuesday night and will be on the clock for the No. 1 selection on June 26.
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The Bulls, who finished 33-49 last season, had just 17 ping pong balls out of 1,000 in the lottery system, vaulting from the ninth spot to the top. It will be their first No. 1 overall pick since selecting Elton Brand in 1999.
Miami, which had the league's worst mark at 15-67 and had a 25 percent chance of landing the top pick, will select second, followed by Minnesota (22-60), Seattle (20-62) and Memphis (22-60).

Freshmen Michael Beasley of Kansas State or Derrick Rose of Memphis are the likely top two selections in this year's draft.
"Either way we go I think we're going to get a great player," said Bulls Executive Vice President of Business Operations Steve Schanwald, who represented the team at the lottery. "Chicago Bulls fans are going to see another great player added to our mix."
Sometimes compared to Denver standout Carmelo Anthony, the 6-foot-10 Beasley the Big 12 Player of the Year in his only collegiate season, was third in the nation in scoring, averaging 26.2 points per game. The forward also tore down 12.4 rebounds per contest - good for the best in the country.
Rose, a 6-foot-3 guard, averaged 14.9 points and 4.7 assists per game in the regular season and 20.8 points in six NCAA tournament games, as the Tigers finished as national runners-up to Kansas.
The New York Knicks will select sixth, followed by the Los Angeles Clippers, Milwaukee, Charlotte and New Jersey. Indiana, Sacramento, Portland and Golden State rounded out the final selections among the 14 lottery teams.
The Bulls are still without a coach for next season after they fired interim head man Jim Boylan after the season. Chicago was without key cogs Ben Gordon, Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich for separate stints during Boylan's time at the helm because of injuries. Chicago's mark of 16 games under .500 came after consecutive playoff appearances in 2006 and '07 under Scott Skiles, who was fired by the Bulls this past Christmas Eve and is now the head coach of the Bucks.
The lottery has been in place since June of 1984 when the NBA Board of Governors voted to adopt a lottery system among the non-playoff teams to determine their order of selection in the first round of the NBA Draft beginning in 1985.
From 1966 through 1984, the teams that finished with the worst records in each conference participated in a coin flip to determine which team would draft first. The remaining teams picked in inverse order of their won-lost records.
The Knicks won the first-ever lottery and used their No. 1 selection on Georgetown center Patrick Ewing.
Portland won the lottery last year, but after taking Greg Oden as the No. 1 pick he missed the entire season due to surgery on his right knee.
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