The Chicago Bulls have officially hired their next lead decision maker.

Atlanta Hawks Senior VP of Basketball Operations Bryson Graham received the nod as the Bulls’ new Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations on Monday afternoon. The team officially announced the hire via press release:

“We’re excited to name Bryson Graham as our Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations,” Michael Reinsdorf said. “Bryson is an elite talent evaluator who has earned tremendous respect across the league, and that stood out immediately during our process. He has worked his way up through basketball operations from the ground level, and that experience has given him a deep understanding of how to build and sustain a successful organization.

“He is an effective communicator, a disciplined and thoughtful decision-maker, and someone who truly connects with players and people. He understands today’s league, today’s players, and what it takes to develop talent and build a winning culture. Just as important, Bryson is committed to building a high-level group around him. He knows what he does well, and he is focused on surrounding that with strong leadership across strategy, scouting, and player development. This is an important step for our organization. We know there is work ahead, but we are confident in Bryson’s ability to lead, build, and move us forward.”

Graham spent the majority of his time in the league in the New Orleans Pelicans’ system, working his way up from front office intern in 2010 to general manager via various stops in the scouting department. In 2025, he moved to Atlanta to take on the senior vice president role.

“I am incredibly honored to join the Chicago Bulls organization,” Graham said via press release. “This is one of the most storied franchises in the history of professional basketball, and I feel a tremendous sense of responsibility to deliver results for this city and these fans. My entire career has been built on the belief that sustained success starts with finding the right players and developing an all-around impactful culture. I want to thank Jerry and Michael Reinsdorf and the entire Bulls organization for presenting me with this opportunity. I am ready to get to work.” 

The Bulls went through a thorough process over recent weeks, interviewing Minnesota Timberwolves general manager Matt Lloyd, who was the presumed favorite due to his ties with the organization, starting his career in Chicago in the public relations department.

As is true for any candidate who has not yet been in the lead chair, it’s impossible to know how they will respond when they get there. We can’t be sure their track record on scouting, their values when it comes to play style or approach to general management. And even if they had been the one in charge, we don’t know what decisions they would make within the context of what the Bulls have in place.

That’s why it was important for the Bulls to approach this search with an open mind, which they did, bringing in a wide range of candidates — from CAA co-head Austin Brown to executives with previous experience in charge like Dennis Lindsey, to second-in-command types like Lloyd, Celtics’ Dave Lewin and potentially others. Reportedly, they used the executive search firm TurnkeyZRG to identify candidates, with at least four (Lloyd, Lindsey, Graham and Lewin) being named as finalists early this week.

Marc Stein recently reported that conversations had taken on a “rebuild tone” during interviews, but it remains to be seen what direction the team will now go.

With the lead job hire in place, the new front office will be tasked with filling out the rest of the upstairs group, hiring a head coach, preparing for the NBA lottery and combine on May 10, and then the draft and free agency in late June, early July.

This is a pivotal offseason, as the Bulls are set to lead the league with roughly $60 million cap space and select twice in the top-15 in the draft; they have carte blanche to define the future for themselves.

Will this new front office leader take the slow approach, build through the draft, while renting out their cap space to accumulate assets? Or will they try to get the Bulls back to a level of respectability and competitiveness quickly, especially with lottery reform set to radically alter team-building and asset management around the league?