Bulls' Bryson Graham Has All the Tools for an Active Draft Night

The Chicago Bulls--yet again--are at the beginning of a rebuilding process. Bulls Executive Vice President of Basketball Bryson Graham is stepping into his first year in the gig, and will be looking to put together a strong and cohesive plan to push the franchise back towards on-the court-relevancy.

Former EVP of Basketball Ops Arturas Karnsiovas' main failure ahead of his firing was his inability to form, or at least stick to a plan.

It wasn't clear if Chicago was trying to compete or tank, or if they were truly content with being stuck in the middle of the pack, too good to get a top-4 pick and too bad to make a real playoff push. Now under Graham, Chicago has a chance to not only get back on track, but to make a splashy and uncharacteristic--for the franchise as of late--move. 

Chicago has eight players under contract: Josh Giddey, Jalen Smith, Patrick Williams, Tre Jones, Rob Dillingham, Isaac Okoro, Matas Buzelis and Noa Essengue. 

Out of the eight players under contract, Smith ($9.4 million) and Jones ($8 million) both figure to have solid value as role players without massive salary figures. Giddey obviously has some value as a 23-year old fresh off of a career-high in assists (9.1 APG) and 3-point attempts per game (5.1), but his $25 million per season figure makes it a bit more difficult to easily fit him onto most teams. 

Graham has all the tools necessary for an active draft night. Chicago is armed with the 4th, 15th, 38th and 56th overall draft picks. 

Depending on if opposing teams are looking to offload salary, grab Giddey's playmaking prowess, or move down or out of the draft completely, the Bulls will have plenty of avenues to remake their team. I fully expect them to make a selection at 4th overall, taking North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson or Duke forward Cameron Boozer.

The reason I believe Graham will be extremely active come draft night is twofold.

One, we saw Graham himself involved in this type of transaction last draft, when the Atlanta Hawks (Graham's former employer) traded the No. 13 overall pick  to the New Orleans Pelicans for the No. 23 overall pick and an unprotected 2026-first round pick (which became the 8th overall pick).

Secondly, despite Graham saying the Bulls aren't trying to rush into things, his SLAP--Size Length Athleticism Physicality--philosophy doesn't exactly line up with Giddey, Jones or Dillingham. Of course, Graham likely isn't obsessed with every single player on the roster fitting this mold, but you certainly would think the core players would profile as "SLAP" players. 

The Los Angeles Clippers and Brooklyn Nets seem and have been reported as teams that are either likely trade down candidates or have been at least fielding calls about their pick. The Clippers would be trade back candidates because of the win-now build of their team and potential indecision over who is the 5th best prospect in the class. 

Brooklyn would be a trade-back candidate because of their disappointment over dropping down three spots to the 6th overall pick. It is feasible they rather pick up future assets to move back if their scouting department sees this as a four-player draft.

The Hawks-Pelicans draft day trade last year has been talked about at length in Chicago because of the belief that the Bulls missed out on a golden opportunity.

With Graham in tow, I believe Chicago will make a similar deal, only with them playing the role of the Pelicans this time. The Pelicans were aggressive in securing the rights to Derik Queen, who had an excellent rookie year but still has real questions surrounding his ability to effect winning. I see Chicago having a similar outcome, attaching that 2026 15th overall pick to a 2027 1st round pick--in what is slated to be a weaker draft class--to aggressively move up and get their guy, whoever that may be.