Bryson Graham’s first offseason in charge of the Bulls has already delivered a mixed bag, and the biggest moves haven’t exactly quieted the questions around Chicago’s new direction.
The hiring of Graham to replace Arturas Karnisovas was greeted warmly in Chicago, where the change at the top was seen as the start of a more competent era. The Bulls also caught a break by landing the fourth-overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, a chance to jump-start everything with a potential future star. Caleb Wilson has already looked the part and more.
But that pick was the easy call. It told the league plenty about Wilson, and not much about Graham’s ability to steer the franchise. The more revealing decisions came later, and several of them have left room for doubt.
Chicago used the No. 15 pick on Dailyn Swain, a choice that raised eyebrows after his Las Vegas Summer League showing. He was, by the article’s account, arguably the worst player in the event.
In four games, he struggled badly, couldn’t knock down a shot outside the paint, and looked overwhelmed. That’s not the kind of first impression you want from a 21-year-old rookie who spent three years in college.
Then there was the handling of Noa Essengue. After just a game and a half in Summer League, the Bulls benched the 19-year-old forward and publicly threw him under the bus.
He barely played after that, which sent a pretty clear message about where the organization stood with the Frenchman. For a lottery pick heading into his second season after a lost rookie year, that’s rough asset management at best.
The most glaring move, though, may have been the new deal for Zach Collins. Graham gave the Bulls’ third-string center, who appeared in only ten games last season, a two-year, $17 million contract.
Chicago does have a team option on the second year, but that doesn’t make it look any better. It’s one of the worst contracts signed this summer.
The Bulls had plenty of cap space to work with, which makes the Collins deal even harder to justify. Chicago used the rest of that flexibility on Nic Claxton and Norman Powell, and those additions shouldn’t draw the same criticism. Both players are expected to start and contribute.
Still, there’s a fair question hanging over the front office: could the Bulls have done more with that money? They might have chased a younger player with upside or used their cap room to absorb bad contracts in exchange for draft capital. Instead, they didn’t seem especially inventive with the financial runway they had.
It’s far too early to hand down a final verdict on Graham. The next transaction windows will say a lot more about him than this one did. But for now, the Bulls’ new lead decision-maker has not exactly opened his tenure with a clean, convincing win.
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