With Media Day approaching, the Bulls are still reshaping the building around new lead executive Bryson Graham.
Chicago announced another wave of changes to its basketball operations staff, highlighted by a promotion for a longtime holdover and a handful of new hires across personnel, scouting, and athletic training. The biggest internal boost went to Brian Hagan, who has been elevated to Senior Vice President of Player Personnel. Hagan has been with the franchise since 2012 and has filled a range of roles during that stretch, making him the most notable carryover from the previous regime.
The Bulls also filled out several other spots on the staff. Alex Kaufman is joining the organization as the new G League GM while also serving as a Senior Manager of Basketball Operations. Graham had already moved on from Chicago’s previous G League GM, and Kaufman arrives after years in New Orleans, where he worked with Graham before Graham later became the Hawks’ second in command in 2025-26.
Dionne Calhoun is another addition, coming to Chicago after 20 years with the Dallas Mavericks. He’ll work as an Assistant Athletic Trainer, a role that carries extra weight for a team leaning heavily into the development of young talent. Justin Irwin, meanwhile, stays in the organization and has been promoted to Assistant Athletic Trainer after serving as the primary Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Windy City Bulls.
The Bulls have also brought in Jarrett Sutton as a Scout and Intelligence Coordinator. Sutton worked with Graham in New Orleans for several years and, at 14 years removed from his playing days at the University of Missouri, brings some younger, recent big-league experience to the mix.
Noah Fox is another new face, joining as Coordinator of Basketball Operations. His first NBA role was with the Bulls, and he previously worked as a graduate assistant at Columbia University.
These moves come on top of some larger additions Graham has already made in recent months. Acie Law IV was hired as Vice President of Player Personnel after previous stops as Director of Player Personnel with the Brooklyn Nets and Amateur Scout with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Stephen Mervis was another major get and may be the No. 2 in the new structure after arriving from the Orlando Magic, where he served as an Assistant General Manager. He’s widely respected for his financial savvy and analytical mindset.
Taken together, the latest round of hires points to a front office that is still growing around Graham’s vision. He made clear when he was hired that he wanted a collaborative setup and a deeper staff, and the Bulls have now put more of that structure in place ahead of his first full year in Chicago.
In Other News...
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Caleb Wilson is part of that picture too, giving the front office another high-upside piece to develop as the rebuild takes hold. Tiago Splitter is stepping in on the bench, and his arrival adds another layer to a transition that has been moving in this direction for a while. The unanswered question is how quickly all of those parts can fit together into a team that looks less like an experiment and more like a direction. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Move On From Keon Johnson And Raise An Immediate Question
Keon Johnsons stay with the Hawks was short-lived, with Atlanta waiving the former first-round pick soon after bringing him in on an Exhibit 10 contract. It leaves him back on the market at a time when a few teams with room to keep looking for back-end roster help could at least take a hard look, and the conversation around him has quickly shifted to which clubs might be willing to give him another chance.
Among the teams mentioned as possible fits are the Nuggets, the Bulls and the Trail Blazers, though nothing has been confirmed by any of them. For Chicago, the interest is more about roster context than anything else, as the front office continues to sort through training camp options and evaluate whether another camp body makes sense in a group that is still taking shape. [Read more 🡒]
Bulls Rebuild Starts With A Camp Battle Fans Will Notice
Chicagos first training camp under Tiago Splitter arrives with the kind of questions that usually define a rebuild more than a season. The Bulls are sorting through a new coaching staff, a different voice in the room and a fresh set of priorities after years of the same organizational habits, so the competition for minutes is already carrying extra weight. What happens now will shape not just the opening-night lineup, but the broader identity Splitter is trying to establish.
Among the most watched names are Rob Dillingham and Patrick Williams, two players whose paths could look very different once the rotation starts to take form. Both are fighting for clarity in a setting where nothing is guaranteed, and that uncertainty reflects how much has changed around the team. For Bulls fans, camp may not offer final answers right away, but it should show which players are gaining trust and which ones are still trying to earn it. [Read more 🡒]
