The list for Michael Reinsdorf was a long one.
In discussing why he and the others atop the Bulls organization opted to fill the vacant executive vice president of basketball operations chair by hiring Bryson Graham, “elite talent evaluator” came out of Reinsdorf’s mouth more than once.
With good reason.
The team president witnessed a series of swings and misses from the previous regime in that department, and enough was enough.
“It doesn’t matter what we do up there (in the management suites),” Reinsdorf said last week. “If the players can’t play, we’re not going to be successful. One thing that came out clearly is (Graham) is an elite talent evaluator, understands today’s players, disciplined in his approach.”
And now thanks to Sunday’s NBA Draft Lottery results, Graham knows when and where that first test will look like and has serious talent to pick from.
Defying the draft odds that said the Bulls only had a 20.3% to jump into the top four, they did just that landing No. 4.
The good news for Graham is that he’ll have two bites at a very ripe and talented apple, also holding the No. 15 pick from Portland. In landing No. 4, however, that means a stab at the likes of an AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson – each considered to be immediate organizational talent changers, while there is a slight drop in the 2026 Class after that.
The key word – slight.
It will be Graham’s job to make sure to limit the perceived talent discrepancy at No. 15, as well as jumpstarting the rebuild process come draft day on June 23-24.
Sunday was a great first step in doing that.
“At the end of the day it still comes down to talent evaluation,” Reinsdorf said. “We still have to build the right team. We need to build this into a sustainable contender. We need the Bulls to be relevant again.
“We are committed to doing this right. We’re going to build a foundation. We are going to elevate this organization, we are going to make our fans proud again.”
