Former Pitt center Aaron Gray had to wait a long time to find out where he would play professional basketball last night, but one of the NBA's most-storied franchises made the wait worth it a little before midnight.

Gray, Pitt's 7-foot All-American center, was selected in the second round of the NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls. Sixty players were selected in the two-round affair in New York. Gray was the 49th player taken.

Gray became the second Pitt player to be drafted under head coach Jamie Dixon, joining former roommate Chris Taft, who was taken by the Golden State Warriors in the second round of the 2005 draft.

Long before Gray was chosen, Portland made Ohio State center Greg Oden the No. 1 pick, and Seattle made Texas Kevin Durant the No. 2 pick. Those were no surprise. What was a surprise was Seattle's trade with Boston that sent high-scoring guard Ray Allen to the Boston Celtics in a multi player trade that also landed No. 5 pick Jeff Green from Georgetown in Seattle.

Gray was the eighth center selected in the draft, but he goes to a team that is on the upswing. Chicago was 49-33 this past season and lost to Detroit in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Bulls' starting center is Ben Wallace, but they could be looking for a backup. P.J. Brown, a 13-year veteran who averaged 6.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game last season, is a free agent.

Gray worked out for 16 NBA teams. He worked out Sunday for the Bulls .

Gray had to wait more than four hours to hear his name called. What made that wait even longer was the fact that he was the last of the top-rated centers to get drafted.

Seven centers were taken before Gray. Ohio State's Greg Oden went to the Portland Trailblazers with the first pick. Yi Jianlian went to the Milwaukee Bucks with the No. 6 pick, Washington's Spencer Hawes to Sacramento at No. 10, and Boston College's Sean Williams to New Jersey at No. 17.

All of those players were expected to be selected before Gray.

But several players with similar ability were taken ahead of him earlier in the second round. Kyrylo Fesenko of the Ukraine went to Philadelphia with the No. 38 pick; Stanko Barac of Croatia to Miami with the 39th ; and Marc Gasol of Spain to the Los Angeles Lakers at No. 48 .

The fact that Fesenko went to Philadelphia had to sting Gray, who grew up a short distance away in Emmaus, Pa., near Allentown. It was the fourth time the 76ers passed on Gray. They had three first-round picks. Fesenko and Gray are projected as the same type of player in the NBA.

Dixon believed Gray would be selected in the first round, but NBA personnel people were concerned about his lack of athleticism. Several scouts believed he had already reached his full potential at Pitt, and that limited upside caused him to fall into the second round. A couple of other things worked against him as well.

This draft class was considered the best since 2003 and one of the deepest in recent history. Even teams in the latter half of the first round stood to land a quality player, and that's not always the case.

The other reason was a change in NBA philosophy over the past couple of years. NBA general managers are coveting multi dimensional big men who are capable of guarding on the perimeter and playing face up to the basket on offense. Gray is strictly viewed as a backup in the league who can play defense, rebound and occasionally provide some offens e from the low post.

Players like Gray are still coveted by teams, but they have become devalued.

Teams are no longer willing to invest first-round picks in such players and hope to be able to find them in the second round.

Gray was a two-year starter for Pitt and led the Panthers in scoring and rebounding the past two seasons.

In March, he became the 10th player in school history to earn All-American honors when the Associated Press and National Association of Basketball Coaches named him to their third teams.

Gray is the 22nd Pitt player to be drafted by an NBA team.

Oden and Portland seem like a match made in NBA heaven, at least for now.

"I was on the phone with the radio station back in Portland," Oden said. "They said they stomped the floor like they won the NBA championship once they called my name."

Fans rushed the court at the Rose Garden, where a perennial playoff team has fallen on hard times after some worse behavior.

But the Blazers got Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy last year and got an early start on having next season's winner when they grabbed Oden to play alongside LaMarcus Aldridge.

"They did have a bad [reputation], but I think Brandon and LaMarcus kind of turned that around," Oden said.

"I hope that I can come and just push that along some more."