Bulls hand Bryson Graham full control to reshape front office
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The Chicago Bulls will grant newly appointed head of basketball operations Bryson Graham complete authority and ample resources to rebuild the club’s basketball operations department, multiple outlets reported on Monday.
Reporter K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network and ESPN’s Shams Charania and Jamal Collier indicated that Graham, hired last week, is expected to decide on staffing across scouting, analytics and executive roles. Graham worked with current Bulls executives Brian Hagen and J.J. Polk during his tenure in New Orleans and also crossed paths with Tim Connelly, brother of Bulls vice president Pat Connelly, but their futures in Chicago remain undecided.
League observers interviewed by The Athletic’s Jon Greenberg and Nick Friedell wonder whether chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and his family will spend aggressively enough to modernize the infrastructure, noting that the Bulls’ scouting and analytics departments have trailed industry standards. Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times disputed that characterization, writing that ownership never blocked former executive Artūras Karnišovas from adding staff; instead, he said the organization simply remained smaller than most after years of operating as a two-man front office under John Paxson and Gar Forman.
“We’ve been playing checkers and now it’s time to play chess,” one source told Cowley, expressing optimism that Graham will expand the operation.
Johnson added that colleagues inside and outside the organization describe Graham as a strong listener and straightforward communicator who values collaboration. Bulls officials told ESPN they were drawn to his wide-ranging experience across several front-office roles and believe he can reunify a department that became fragmented in recent seasons.
On the coaching front, Marc Stein of The Stein Line reported that Spurs assistant Sean Sweeney is expected to surface as a candidate for Chicago’s head-coaching vacancy; Sweeney is also in contention for the same position in New Orleans. Meanwhile, Cowley noted the Bulls remain interested in adding Celtics assistant general manager Dave Lewin—one of the finalists Graham beat out for the top job—to bolster their analytics and strategy group. If Lewin cannot be lured to Chicago, the franchise will look for an executive with a similar profile, according to the report.
Source: Hoops Rumors
