CHICAGO (104.3 The Score) – A celebratory Wednesday for the Bulls started with a somber admission from ownership.
“I want to start with our fans – I want to, actually I need to say I’m sorry, because the results just haven’t been there,” president Michael Reinsdorf said. “It’s not something I’m proud of, and it’s something I want to get right. Ultimately, it flows up to me and I take responsibility.”
From there, new Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham stole the show. Two days after he was officially hired by the Bulls and tasked with turning around an iconic-but-moribund franchise, the 39-year-old Graham was introduced at the Advocate Center as the organization’s new basketball boss. Graham mixed confidence with a humble tone in his first remarks to Chicago.
Above all, he also shared a window into his vision for molding the “rebuilding” Bulls into what he wants them to be.
“It’s going to take time,” Graham said. “It’s going to take time. I think the roster, we’re in the developmental stage right now. I think everyone in here knows that we’re not where we want to be. But we’ve got four picks in this year’s draft. We own all of our picks going forward. We’ve got a ton of second-round picks. And we got a ton of flexibility this summer. We just want to be smart, and we want to be also creative and opportunistic. But we’re going to obviously take our time. This is not going to be something that’s going to be rushed. But this is the beginning stages. We’ve got some pretty good players, but we know this draft is going to be the first real layer to this foundation going forward.”
For so long, the question Bulls fans have had is simple. What’s the plan? The Bulls made the playoffs just once in former lead executive Arturas Karnisovas’ six-year tenure in Chicago and were widely panned for their annual push for play-in tournament contention. They never took a step toward meaningful championship contention under Karnisovas’ watch. Their hope is that Graham changes that with a better eye for talent.
Graham has joined the Bulls after spending one season with the Hawks and 15 years with the Pelicans, where he first broke into the NBA back in the 2010-’11 season. After an injury-plagued playing career and graduate assistantship at Texas A&M, Graham started as an intern in New Orleans – the stories of him unloading boxes and picking up coffee in his early days quickly made the rounds in recent days – before working his way up through the organization in positions such as video coordinator, player development coach, scouting coordinator, director of college scouting and assistant general manager before becoming the Pelicans’ general manager and trusted confidante of veteran lead executive David Griffin.
Graham and the Bulls believe that his diverse background in various departments will serve him well, but if there’s one specific responsibility to highlight, it’s Graham’s experience in talent evaluation and the draft process. As he and those who have been around him tell it, Graham spearheaded the Pelican’s draft operation for six seasons while Griffin was the final decision-maker.
For outsiders, it’s always hard to discern who truly believed what inside a draft room and who made the final decision, but Graham was credited in New Orleans with being instrumental in the additions of wing Nickeil Alexander-Walker (17th overall in 2019), wing Trey Murphy (17th overall in 2021), wing Herb Jones (35th overall in 2021), guard Jose Alvarado (undrafted in 2021) and wing Dyson Daniels (eighth overall in 2022).
“I was involved in everything, but personnel was where I lived,” Graham said.
In Chicago, Graham takes the helm of a team that will have two selections in the top 15 of the upcoming NBA Draft in June. The Bulls enter the NBA Draft lottery Sunday with the ninth-best odds of the teams in the mix. They hold a 4.5% chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick and a 20.3% chance of moving up into the top four. If they don’t move up, the Bulls will most likely select at No. 9 or No. 10 overall.
The Bulls also project to have around $60 million in salary cap space this summer.
“You have to be open to every avenue,” Graham said when asked about how the Bulls will use their significant cap space this summer. “Because that’s where we’re at right now. We’re not in a place that we’re going to be adding players and competing for a championship in the 2026-’27 season. This is a time for us to grow and build and layer it the right way. And we’ll make the right decision. I’m confident in that.”
In Chicago, Graham wants an “open, collaborative and very communicative organization” and wants to enhance the resources in the Bulls’ “strategy space” and personnel departments. He added that, “If I’m the smartest person in the room, we’re going to fail.”
Reinsdorf pledged to give Graham what he needs to be successful as the Bulls come off a disappointing 31-51 season.
“Bryson checks all the boxes,” Reinsdorf said. “So now as we go forward, we need to build this thing into a sustainable contender. We need the Bulls to be relevant again. But we need to be realistic about where we are. But we’re committed to doing this right. So whether it’s the resources, whether it’s the time and the effort, we’re going to build a foundation. We’re going to elevate this organization. We’re going to make our fans proud again.”
Cody Westerlund is an editor and covers the Bulls for 104.3 The Score. Follow him on X @CodyWesterlund.
