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Bryson Graham will be tasked with a 15-year-old problem: how to make the Bulls contenders again.
On Monday, Chicago hired Graham as the Bulls’ new executive vice president of basketball operations and to lead the front office.
He spent the past season as the Hawks’ senior vice president of basketball operations after working the previous 15 at the Pelicans, rising from an intern to general manager in that span.
The 39-year-old, who played college basketball at Texas A&M, is known for being one of the NBA’s premier scouts. In New Orleans he advocated for the Pelicans to draft Trey Murphy III, Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, the latter of which was named the league’s Most Improved Player a week ago with the Hawks.
Graham succeeds Artūras Karnišovas, who was fired in April after the Bulls missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. Former player John Paxson was the president of basketball operations from 2009–2020 before hiring Karnišovas from the Nuggets.
Graham’s first task in Chicago will be hiring a new head coach to replace Billy Donovan, who stepped down last month amid organizational turnover. The Bulls finally moved toward a rebuild when they traded away multiple rotation players ahead of February’s trade deadline.
Most of what the team got in return were second-round picks, and the deals left the roster small, with no player taller than 6-foot-9. Despite that, the Bulls have two first-round picks in June’s loaded draft, their own, which is in the lottery, and the Trail Blazers’ pick. The team also has $60 million in cap space this summer.
The Bulls chose Graham over Pistons executive Dennis Lindsey and Timberwolves GM Matt Lloyd, who previously worked for the organization. Cavaliers GM Mike Gansey, Spurs assistant GM Dave Telep, and Celtics assistant GM Dave Lewin also interviewed for the job.
