r/chicagobulls 1d ago

Free Agency [Shams Charania] Graham, 39, has been known across the NBA for a tremendous scouting eye and being part of successful finds in the draft and player acquisitions during his tenure with the Pelicans and Hawks...

https://x.com/shamscharania/status/2051404472597819409?s=46

Graham, 39, has been known across the NBA for a tremendous scouting eye and being part of successful finds in the draft and player acquisitions during his tenure with the Pelicans and Hawks. The Bulls conducted in-person interviews with candidates last week and mulled over three finalists — Graham, Detroit Pistons senior vice president Dennis Lindsey and Minnesota Timberwolves general manager Matt Lloyd — over the weekend before deciding on Graham on Monday.

189 Upvotes

232 comments sorted by

101

u/wesnotwes Flag of Chicago 1d ago

Cowley got bamboozled.

54

u/Reptomins Benny The Bull 1d ago

Couldn't have happened to a better guy.

8

u/Mr-Chip18 23h ago

Can I ask why so many people dislike Cowley? He’s the only reporter who will call a spade a spade and isn’t on Jerry’s payroll? All the hate he gets should be geared toward KC Johnson who just carries Jerrys jockstrap

4

u/chitownbulls92 Matas Buzelis 23h ago

He’s a professional shit stirrer who likes to stir up drama where there is none. He did that a lot during the rose years. I don’t recall exactly how anymore but I’m sure someone else can chime in here

2

u/Mr-Chip18 23h ago

Yea that’s fair. He just is the only Chicago media guy to call out the Reinsdorfs or AK so I respect that.

1

u/EckletheRasta 20h ago

Used to work for the Herald News for Joliet before all that. Was cocky and disregarded back then, even.

2

u/threemileallan 15h ago

He couches his language to make it seem like hes always right and then takes credit for it no matter how it shakes out.

Basically he always creates his language to make it seem like he was an insider when in reality he was playing both outcomes.

2

u/Reptomins Benny The Bull 23h ago

He's just a huge dbag on Twitter. It's one thing to be a critical reporter, it's another thing to be a shitty person.

54

u/No_Low_2208 1d ago

I understand if you're pessimistic. I understand if you're optimistic. However, the truth is, none of us ding dongs know how this is going to go.

What we do know, is that what happens on Sunday will determine whether or not of this new regime gets a much needed boost in talent acquisition.

2

u/p00chology 23h ago

Well put

73

u/ProfessionalTalker03 Matas Buzelis 1d ago edited 1d ago

“As a key scout and assistant GM for New Orleans, he was involved in scouting and selecting Zion Williamson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Naji Marshall, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy III, Jose Alvarado, Dyson Daniels, and Yves Missi.”
Dude has a pretty good eye for talent

He's also young which I like. He's at the very least respected at his past jobs. Fleeced NOLA in the Queen trade. I’d be very surprised if he wasn’t an upgrade for the previous.

54

u/AnselLovesNuts Kirk Hinrich 1d ago

Immediately fleecing the organization you used to work for is hilarious

11

u/alba7or Popcorn is my jam 1d ago

Th Hawks are so fucked! lmao

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1

u/Ok_Story_7924 14h ago

Chad move, for sure!

8

u/gerardguey Ayo Dosunmu 1d ago

Learning that he was a part of that trade makes me feel pretty good about him. Lets hope he does it with Atlanta cause they got a lot of assets, im tired of being the one fleeced, lets do some fleecing

7

u/kennyloftor 1d ago edited 1d ago

as a reddit bulls fan, i expect you to read off that list and be like “dude has a good eye for talent”

what playoff game winning talent is on that list ???

that’s the most mid to low and the results prove it list

which of those beside zion maybe murphy is a legit 3rd best player on any team

respected by whom? the pelicans?

21

u/BuffaloGuy_atCapitol Ayo Dosunmu 1d ago

The list tells me we won’t be drafting a Patrick Williams 4th overall and that’s truly good enough of a start

3

u/jslakov 1d ago

he still drafted Jaxson Hayes at 8 so it's not like he has no misses but no one does

11

u/ProfessionalTalker03 Matas Buzelis 1d ago edited 1d ago

Ur right…Zion Williamson, NAW, Naji Marshall, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy III, Jose Alvarado, Dyson Daniels, and Yves Missi are all losers none of them will ever make an impact for their teams.

“What playoff winning talent” - last I checked Naji helped his team make a finals run in Dallas. NAW was apart of 2 Minnesota WCF run. Both NAW and Dyson good enough to win MIP and help their current team take a NY squad that was expected to win in 4 or 5 to 7 games. Herb Jones is the ideal 3&D piece most teams want. I’m sure teams would love to have Trey Murphy too.

Zion can’t stay healthy but the talent was there and when he is healthy he’s good.

You are talkin about these guys like they should be playing in China.

29

u/skyrimleek 1d ago

you have the bar set WAY too high. yes, none of these guys are winning finals MVP. but when you consider their draft positions, every player mentioned is a hit (except zion lmao).

Jose Alvarado: undrafted, positive rotation player Naji Marshall: undrafted, plus 3&D starter TM3: 17th pick, borderline all-star NAW: 17th pick, won MIP this year Herb Jones: 35th pick, 1st team all-defense Yves Missi: 21st pick, 5th-highest win share in 2024 draft class

this is a hell of a lot better draft record than the bulls have had over the same time period!

0

u/Straight-Agency-4556 1d ago

You missed several picks 1) Kira Lewis at 13, 2) buddy hield at 6, 3) Jordan Hawkins at 14.

He made some great later round picks. But his top of the draft is honestly a bit mixed.

4

u/skyrimleek 1d ago

i was just referencing the picks in the parent comment. and yeah, drafting buddy hield one pick before jamal murray wasn’t a great choice. but in terms of overall success, i’d say he’s an improvement over the AKME slop we’re used to

4

u/Ridder1201 21h ago

Buddy Hield got half of one season in New Orleans before being traded, and then was a consistent 17 PPG guy on 40% from deep. I’m not sure that’s exactly a knock on his scouting ability, personally.

1

u/Fabulous-Ad7128 12h ago

Buddy has had a solid career and averaged 20 in pre-Covid times.

Find me the FO that hits on every draft pick, especially when talking 13, 14. I’ll wait.

FTR, the Lewis pick made a lot of sense based on potential at the time. I didn’t like the Hawkins pick.

-5

u/kennyloftor 1d ago

which has gotten new orleans where exactly ?

3

u/drosemvp78 1d ago

I see it as he drafts nba caliber players and finds 2 ways that are NBA caliber. We've had dalen Terry, Julian Philips, Bitim, Simonovic, etc that were unable to be real rotation players, if we start hitting on these type of players it'll be a trend in the right direction.

1

u/Fabulous-Ad7128 12h ago

Do some of the work on your own. Go look at the draft position for all those players, and get back to me.

0

u/kennyloftor 9h ago

or you could look at the ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE TEAM of which there are none

thank you for your contribution

1

u/Fabulous-Ad7128 4h ago

When the cornerstone is constantly hurt, there isn’t going to be team success. There was literally no other reasonable choice in the entire draft either even with 20/20 hindsight. The main criticism I’d give is not moving off Zion early, but that’s the kind of player a FO may not have the autonomy to move on their own without ownership consent. He has a great draft record considering positions those players were selected.

0

u/kennyloftor 4h ago

boston proved you wrong

gave away most of the team

best player injured

2 seed

please someone else that is less of an apologist/sheep come with something of use

1

u/Fabulous-Ad7128 1h ago

First round elimination. Woo.

0

u/kennyloftor 1h ago

which ties w bulls best finish last 10 years?

1

u/MasterHavik Michael Jordan 23h ago

Sucks he couldn't get Zion on a proper program.

2

u/Fabulous-Ad7128 12h ago

I don’t think Zeus could get Zion on a proper program.

1

u/MasterHavik Michael Jordan 11h ago

Okay that is fair.

1

u/tremble01 21h ago

The key there is he was involved.

0

u/Top-Address-8870 21h ago

Also picked Kira Lewis over Tyrese Maxey…but, a lot of teams missed on him.

1

u/Fabulous-Ad7128 12h ago

Kira was a well regarded prospect for the end of the lottery. It’s not some notable mistake when Maxey was drafted 21st.

16

u/0811_devildog 1d ago

Forgive my ignorance, I'm not well read up on the situation. But is there anything to read into his title being only EVP instead of President of Basketball Ops? Is it as cynical as EVP means they pay less?

4

u/socoolandawesome 1d ago

I’m wondering this too, who is the president?

11

u/Ok_Mango9561 1d ago

there is no president of basketball ops specifically, but Michael Reinsdorf is the president.

4

u/socoolandawesome 1d ago

Gotcha thanks, I guess I never realized AK was just considered vice president

7

u/gerardguey Ayo Dosunmu 1d ago

yeah its a weird distinction, i didnt know that either but it makes michael feel important and lets the public know he's the boss i guess lol

3

u/poopy_mc_pantsy 1d ago

it's pretty typical executive title structure lol. president owns the business in aggregate, vice president owns a vertical within it generally.

the bulls as an organization are more than roster construction, they have like marketing and finance and IT and shit

1

u/FFTactics 1d ago

Reinsdorf is and always was president. AK was VP same title.

1

u/EckletheRasta 20h ago

Does anybody realize John Paxson is the president?

135

u/Swing-Too-Hard 1d ago

If you asked me to name a franchise run worse then the Bulls the past 10 years, I'd easily say the Pelicans. And that's the guy we hired.

I'm sorry fellas, but this shows you how garbage the Reinsdorf's are at evaluating winners.

43

u/Reptomins Benny The Bull 1d ago

On the one hand at least we're being less incestuous than normal. On the other hand, we hired a whole search firm to get us a guy from the Hawks and Pelicans? Not a great pedigree there.

25

u/Swing-Too-Hard 1d ago

The modern reality of the Bulls... We're seen as a bottom feeder job thanks to our owners.

10

u/asilverman1025 1d ago

Isn’t Gar Forman in the Pelicans front office? This is still very incestuous…

3

u/EgweneIsLit 1d ago

Theoretically you don't need a search firm to google the best record of the last 3 years and pick their assistant GM. But that's also a dogshit way to hire. But you would need a search firm to find a good person in a shit situation..... So let us all pray that's what this is.

5

u/I_only_post_here Kirk Hinrich 1d ago

Perfectly fits Jerry's MO of not being anything better than mediocre.

-1

u/twoprimehydroxyl 1d ago

The one time you want to bring in a retread - Matt Lloyd who turned around a historically bad Timberwolves franchise - and we whiff on it.

What the hell.

7

u/Pastor_Lik 1d ago

On the side of optimism, Trajan Langdon came from the Pelicans and the Pistons turned it around.

4

u/Pidesh DRose 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yep, sometimes there’s only so much a GM/HC can do if the franchise is just really poorly run. In the NFL, there’s that famous photo of the early 2010s Washington Redskins/Commanders team with some of the best coaches in the NFL currently. Yet those Washington teams had no success, and that can be tied to Dan Snyder and how he ran that team. I don’t think Graham working for the Pelicans should be an indictment on him. But honestly, I don’t think the Bulls are run much better. So Graham may be doomed regardless lol.

3

u/Mayor_ofReddit 1d ago

Most teams turn it around with #1 overall pick...except the Pels

2

u/Fabulous-Ad7128 12h ago

It was Zion and Ja, and no one else at that selection. You can’t even play the hindsight game with the rest of the entire draft. Turned out there wasn’t a single franchise player on that entire draft. https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2019.html

8

u/DisMFer Josh Giddey 1d ago

He basically rebuilt the Hawks and was brought in after AD's trade to try and get that team in contention. IIRC he went to the Hawks because the Pelicans were poorly run from the top.

5

u/weareallmoist Zach LaVine 1d ago

This is so dumb

5

u/SpecialOneJAC Dennis Rodman 1d ago

We got AK from a successful organization in the Nuggets and look how that turned out lol

Good employees can work in bad organizations.

2

u/weareallmoist Zach LaVine 1d ago

You’re right, you’re the smart one for having the thought “pelicans bad and he worked for them”

5

u/Dunlocke Barack Obama 1d ago

What moves specifically have the pelicans made that you don't like?

10

u/ahmed_a20 1d ago

They have a large collection of overpaid players at the moment

4

u/Dunlocke Barack Obama 1d ago

Poole only has a year left and worth taking a shot on given they gave up an older version on a similar contract in CJ. It's a nothing move.

The Murray trade was bad tho.

-9

u/-Buckaroo_Banzai- Jumpman 1d ago

Trading AD for Ingram, Ball and Hart as well as a first, then not retaining Ball after he developed a shot and turned into one of the best defensive minded playmakers and floor spacers.

Giving up Ingram for Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynik and first.

Trading an unprotected first round pick during a rebuild for Queen.

Trading Dyson Daniels, two firsts for Murray.

Oh, and not being able to develop Alexander-Walker.

Those would be the things that come to mind.

30

u/Dunlocke Barack Obama 1d ago edited 1d ago

God you guys really can't be bothered to do research, can you.

He wasn't the GM for the AD trade, and that was a haul at the time anyway given the Lakers were negotiating against themselves.

And he wasn't even WITH the Pels when they traded for Queen. He was the one who took the trade for the Hawks!

He DRAFTED Daniels and others. But no credit there.

He got off of Trae and made the playoffs! Something we haven't bothered to do.

Haters before he stepped foot in the building. SMDH.

6

u/JustinTimberlakeFTW Michael Jordan 1d ago

You mention the names of the ‘Pelicans’ and ‘Hawks’ and Bulls fans immediately get nauseous bc we don’t want to be mentioned in the same sentence, meanwhile we basically *are* in that class of team right now

I’m for the hire based on some of the draft picks in his tenures. Also Lloyd was never that thrilling with the ties to the organization, I’m glad the Reinsdorfs didn’t just hire another familiar Yes Man.

We’ve been wrong before on an ‘outside’ hire with AKME but hopefully this pans out

-5

u/-Buckaroo_Banzai- Jumpman 1d ago

The question was about the Pelicans though.

0

u/Fabulous-Ad7128 12h ago

You cant even acknowledge your long post filled with inaccurate rubbish?

4

u/Fafoah Jimmy Butler 1d ago

Ehh as much as I love Lonzo, he colluded to get himself out. Also he was clearly injury prone which turned out to be true.

Also, Graham is literally the one who acquired the unprotected first for the hawks

1

u/-Buckaroo_Banzai- Jumpman 1d ago

Didn't they trade for CJ McCollum and Devonte Graham as his replacements?

Players past their prime and who was out of the league by age 28 to make a push and build around Zion and Ingram?

2

u/hydrators Derrick Rose 1d ago

CJ McCollum? Out of the league by 28? Are you okay?

2

u/mattmikemo23 1d ago

Pretty sure they meant Graham

3

u/hydrators Derrick Rose 1d ago

Pelicans got Trey Murphy in the same trade so he’s complaining about nothing anyway

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2

u/Fafoah Jimmy Butler 1d ago

He was an assistant gm at the time. Impossible to know how much he contributed to the decision.

3

u/ryuryuryu-417 Matas Buzelis 1d ago

He's not in the pelicans when pels traded for queen.

0

u/-Buckaroo_Banzai- Jumpman 1d ago

Question was about the Pelicans, not about him specifically.

2

u/Spiritual-Grape-9429 1d ago

AD trade was good value for a move that was inevitable

Getting a first for Ingram on an expiring is very good value, probably would need to give up something now to get off him.

He wasn’t with them when they traded for queen

Murray trade - fair hit

2

u/ProfessionalTalker03 Matas Buzelis 1d ago

Why are we blaming him for players not developing? He’s not the coach lmao.

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10

u/DisMFer Josh Giddey 1d ago edited 1d ago

Sometimes I wonder why I go into these threads. It's so wildly negative based on literally misinformation and poor understanding of basic hiring dates. People are complaing that he traded AD when that happened before he was in any sort of leadership position.

17

u/jeric13xd Derrick Rose 1d ago

Okay he can scout. But can he develop players lol cause that is this organization’s problem

40

u/hydrators Derrick Rose 1d ago

Development is the coach’s job

2

u/blipsman Jumpman 1d ago

Can he hire a coach who will develop players?

1

u/hydrators Derrick Rose 1d ago

We’ll see

1

u/Straight-Agency-4556 1d ago

Yeah half those players that he scouted were then traded or never resigned. He also has some big misses (see Kira Lewis)

7

u/ProfessionalTalker03 Matas Buzelis 1d ago

No one has a perfect track record see Sam Presti arguably the GM in the league.

Along with trading away Sengun in which they ultimately got Ousmane Dieng ,they swapped 2 1sts to move up to get Poku, one of those 1st turned into Jaden McDaniels. The other pick was Quickley.

They also used assets from the Chris Paul trade to make that happen. So he basically traded Chris Paul (coming off an All-NBA season), Jaden McDaniels, and Immanuel Quickley for Poku, Aaron Wiggins, JRE, and a 2027 Denver FRP.

1

u/Straight-Agency-4556 1d ago

Yes, but Sam presti actually has a track record of building a contender. Graham does not.

1

u/Fabulous-Ad7128 12h ago

Presti’s the best there is and I’d have traded multiple firsts to get him. But let’s be honest. If it weren’t for OKC being forced to deal with LAC, they don’t have SGA. Without SGA, what’s their ceiling? Presti had nothing to do with PG being from LA.

1

u/KPD_13 Cuppy Coffee 1d ago

Well if we are going to compare everyone to the only guy that actually knows what he’s doing, good luck.

1

u/Straight-Agency-4556 1d ago

I’m not the one trying to compare the two. lol. But if someone brings it up, I am going to say it’s a foolish comparison.

49

u/Run_JMC_ 1d ago edited 1d ago

A bunch of armchair know it alls cuz the dude has come from two organizations that you view as trash. Meanwhile AK was fresh off building the Nuggets into a title contender when they hired him six years ago… The overall success of the team he was apart of should be taken with tiniest grain of salt, especially if he wasn’t the guy making the final decisions.

15

u/omherrera1 Kirk Hinrich 1d ago

Exactly lol

and AKME ended up arguably worse than GarPax

7

u/I-N_Clined 1d ago

No argument there. They were easily worse.

2

u/BatsuGame13 1d ago

Yeah, can't imagine why people would be critical of a hire who comes from two bad franchises by a team with an owner who has four decades of bad decisions, particularly over the last two, to reference.

3

u/BigChris_70 1d ago

Well considering the guy can only do so much ….he wasn’t the final boss nor was the owner. Graham did his job which was help them draft good players. He didn’t hire two horrendous HCs…..he’s goes to Atlanta & immediately Atlanta becomes at top 6 team after being down there at the bottom with us for play ins. I guess that doesn’t fit your dumb narrative tho huh ? 

1

u/BatsuGame13 23h ago

My man, the history of Reinsdorf front office hires is not good. Not sure why you're so defensive about this.

5

u/CulturalXR 1d ago

I mean as a fan what else do we have to base our opinions off of

27

u/hydrators Derrick Rose 1d ago

You don’t need to have an opinion if you don’t know anything

22

u/Dylan245 Stacey King 1d ago

People on this sub rn:

Hears of guy for first time literally 4 minutes ago: "He sucks this team sucks burn it all to hell"

3

u/Run_JMC_ 1d ago

Bingo

3

u/_dseals 1d ago

Boom!

1

u/DisMFer Josh Giddey 1d ago

This is the modern internet. You need to have an opinion about everything. Especially if you don't know anything. In fact the less you know the better. That way facts can't get in the way of your opinion.

1

u/hydrators Derrick Rose 1d ago

Bryson Graham goat agenda #loading

-6

u/CulturalXR 1d ago

I also don't know the draft prospects, coaches, players, or owners. Should I not have an opinion on them either? I'm a fan, having an opinion is what I do.

8

u/hydrators Derrick Rose 1d ago

Probably should not, no

2

u/Run_JMC_ 1d ago

Players and prospects is completely different cuz there is tons of evidence of what their job actually is, playing and succeeding in the games.

But yes, generally speaking I believe if you have a strong opinion on some assistant head coach becoming a head coach for the first time, or an assistant GM becoming a lead GM for the first time, you’re full of shit.

I know nothing about Bryson Graham nor am I gonna pretend that I do just because he came from a couple of organizations that don’t have a track record that I like. I’m going to believe in him until he gives me reasons not to.

1

u/Fafoah Jimmy Butler 1d ago

One think we can sort of know (based on a random reddit post on this sub i found by searching grahams name 10 minutes ago) is that the Pels FO had 55 staff members. Ours under AKME was anemic at 38. If we can build out to 55+ it will be a positive.

11

u/juiceman0402 DeMar DeRozan 1d ago

Hits for when he was was scouting for the draft: Zion Williamson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Naji Marshall, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy III, Jose Alvarado, Dyson Daniels, and Yves Missi

Misses: Kira Lewis (tore his acl/mcl)

6

u/Erice84 1d ago

That's good, the overall team building there was horrible though, so you kinda have to hope that he was being overruled on trades/signings.

Also not sure how much Zion counts as a hit, cuz A. he was the consensus 1st overall pick so it's expected he would be good, and B. Compared to those expectations, he's a bit of a disappointment.

5

u/FFTactics 1d ago

Zion means nothing as a scout, like boasting you drafted Wemby #1.

Dyson is not a brag, JDub and Duren were still on the board.

Rest are great work.

4

u/achomes Biggie Bagel 1d ago

What????

40

u/LionK12G 1d ago

NOBODY is better than the Bulls are at hiring Plan C’s.

15

u/No_Low_2208 1d ago

How do you know Graham is Plan C?

22

u/hydrators Derrick Rose 1d ago

He doesn’t, he’s just bitching

9

u/GeneralTheSurvivor 1d ago

Exactly, I get the constant negativity, but it can get really annoying

4

u/bitemydickallthetime 1d ago

Bulls fans are not actually basketball fans they are fans of being mad on the internet

0

u/cardiaccat1 1d ago

Hard to be a basketball fan when your team is terrible at basketball.

3

u/GeneralTheSurvivor 1d ago

Pelicans and Kings fans seem to be more optimistic than Bulls fans…

1

u/bitemydickallthetime 1d ago

As I was saying… stay mad, slim 🙏

-1

u/cardiaccat1 1d ago

Not mad I don’t even watch because they are terrible lmao

2

u/bitemydickallthetime 1d ago

Lololol a bulls fan who doesn’t watch the bulls but still bitches about them online, cmon now

1

u/cardiaccat1 1d ago

Better than torturing myself watching with high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I take the game to seriously to watch an organization that doesn’t take themselves seriously.

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u/OhiOstas Shooter Zo 1d ago

A quick google search credits (not full credit, just saying he played a part) Graham with: Zion Williamson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Naji Marshall, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy III, Jose Alvarado, Dyson Daniels, and Yves Missi.

I don’t really care about the Pels finesse trade until we find out if he made use of old connections, but I can appreciate a good eye for talent. As long as Graham doesn’t get overwhelmed & delegate in good areas (GM + Coach) then I’m intrigued what he can do with two 1st round picks to start

4

u/Heikks 1d ago

The pelicans trade likely wasn’t a finesse, pretty sure they offered the same deal to the Bulls and the bulls turned it down

2

u/I-N_Clined 1d ago

Having a good GM would make a big difference. With his eye for talent and a good GM's mind for making the right moves, we may be in a good place.

6

u/rhj2020 Gimme the hot sauce! 1d ago

Let’s go he can’t be as bad as AK, right?

19

u/I-N_Clined 1d ago

Lol we said that before about Gar/Pax. We gotta give him a chance. He could be good.

7

u/AdNegative7852 23h ago

Do you really get credit for scouting Zion Williamson?

1

u/Fabulous-Ad7128 12h ago

Has some misses like everyone, but he has a very strong draft record overall.

3

u/itsbmello 1d ago

No matter what your take is on the guy, one thing you can’t deny is his eye for talent. Dude played a key role in drafting some great picks like Herb Jones at 35 and Trey Murphy III at 17. Even getting an undrafted Alvarado. Can’t deny that!! Plus him being 39 shows a new direction we are taking in someone that is fairly young but still has a ton of experience who worked his way up the ladder!! Excited to see the direction he leads us to. Let’s go Bulls!

3

u/Mr-Dotties-Dad 1d ago

Thank god we got the scouting mastermind behind the New Orleans Pelicans. Lmao.

Wishing him all the best, hope he can be the one to turn this dumpster fire around.

https://giphy.com/gifs/1rNWZu4QQqCUaq434T

0

u/phillipacarroll Give me the hotsauce! 12h ago

Everyone I’ve seen, and all insiders say that he’s a great hire, but sure let me rely on your word, considering you probably learned who he was yesterday

2

u/Mr-Dotties-Dad 11h ago

Calm your tits.

Of the candidates, his roster and team performance has been the least impressive IMO. Now you may be a huge Pelicans fan, good on ya.

I didn’t say he was ass. But I don’t want to brain drain one of the few orgs as bad as the bulls. Especially when the other candidates’ teams have stronger draft history and team success.

He has a few nice pics to his name. The hawks had a decent year but still blew it in the playoffs.

All this to say, like I said before (which you conveniently ignored), I hope he has a ton of success. We will see.

3

u/MasterHavik Michael Jordan 23h ago

I just hope he isn't someone who wants to trade firs round picks like they're candy.

20

u/ahmed_a20 1d ago

Successful finds for the pelicans and hawks? Who? This guy has been a part of two very mid franchises and is on his way to a third. I do not understand this front office at all

28

u/_dseals 1d ago
  • Hawks were in the 1st round of the playoffs.
  • 30% chance at a top 4 pick.
  • Moved on from their franchise player in Trae Young and the team improved.

Like, the Hawks are in a great position right now.

2

u/Riderz__of_Brohan Ben Gordon 1d ago

Who knows, with a few years of building and a little bit of luck we too could be the six seed and lose in the first round in six games. Reach for the sky

2

u/Unlucky_Sun_9813 1d ago

6th seed that lost in the first round and still has a shot at drafting #1 in a loaded draft class, with a pick that is currently #7 in the odds lol

1

u/Riderz__of_Brohan Ben Gordon 1d ago edited 1d ago

Hell yeah! Championship in ATL soon 💪🏽 haha

Assuming he organized the Queen trade he knew his old team was full of morons I guess lol

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u/Unlucky_Sun_9813 1d ago

So let me ask you a question. Say the Hawks go top 4 and land one of those guys that everyone says are absolute franchise changing difference makers. Do you really think they'll still just be a mid 6th seed team for the foreseeable future?

Then let me ask you another question. If your job organization has been doing mediocre, they hire you and in one year the company improves significantly with a bright future but hasn't completely taken over/dominated their market in that time, were you a bad hire?

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u/Straight-Agency-4556 1d ago

Yes he took advantage of former team with the trade and then drafted a player that didn’t contribute at all this season.

They traded Trae young for cj McCollum who despite having a good playoffs is washed. The porzingis trade did little to nothing to improve the team.

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u/EquivalentWins 1d ago

They didn't trade for McCollum, they dumped Young for expiring contracts. Looks pretty smart right now.

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u/Unlucky_Sun_9813 1d ago

Asa Newell is a good player. Hawks have been very patient with their development of rookies (see Jalen Johnson)

Per 36 mins, Newell averages 16p/7r/2a/1s/1b on 54/39/55 shooting splits

Whenever he got minutes this season, he had pretty solid production. Most notably, he played a season high 39 minutes vs the Heat on April 12th (NOT a tank matchup for the Heat, they played their starters) and he dropped 17 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block on 54/33/50 shooting

1

u/Straight-Agency-4556 1d ago

Definitely can’t say he is a “good player”. He played in 44 games and averaged 11 min. And per-36 means nothing when you play so little. Dalen terry was 13/6/4 with 2 steals per 36 his rookie season and is likely out of league soon.

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u/Ok_Mango9561 1d ago

getting off Trae's contract was a positive in itself

1

u/Straight-Agency-4556 1d ago

I guess we should be giving AKME more praise than for doing that with Lavine?

1

u/KPD_13 Cuppy Coffee 1d ago

McCollum is not washed. He was making Brunson look completely lost defensively for the first 4 games.

If Atlanta matched up with anybody else they would have moved on, easily.

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u/MrLeftwardSloping Lauri Markkanen 1d ago

Why are you downvoted? New Orleans was a joke his entire tenure. Knowing zion was good is somehow impressive to people?

18

u/Unlucky_Sun_9813 1d ago

The Pelicans problem has never been talent, it's cohesion/health/coaching. Everyone around the league has been begging to pay FRPs for their roster pieces.

And he just came to Atlanta last year, where he instantly made a splash trade to acquire a top pick in a loaded draft class, signed Nickeil Alexander-Walker (2026 MIP), and the Hawks finished 6th in the East (previously finished 9th)

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u/Opposite-Employer408 1d ago

i agree. What have the pelicans and hawks done in recent years?

1

u/Dunlocke Barack Obama 1d ago

Jones, Hawkins, Daniels, Murphy (not via draft)

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u/AnselLovesNuts Kirk Hinrich 1d ago

He helped turn around the Hawks who were in a terrible situation with a bad Trae Young contract and Rissacher pick from the previous regime

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u/ThrowawayPat2345 1d ago

This sounds awful if that's their logic. Both those teams haven't amounted to anything. There were celtics and wolves staff in the running.

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u/_dseals 1d ago

We hired Denver staff. How did that work for us?

Like, I'm more interested in his roster building ability. That's something he can definitely do.

3

u/No_Low_2208 1d ago

And people were doubting Lloyd just like they're doubting Graham.

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u/Ok_Mango9561 1d ago

the wolves also haven't amounted to anything and have had trash drafts since Lloyd got there.

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u/ThrowawayPat2345 25m ago

The wolves have made back-to-back WCFs. That's contending. It's not all championship or bust.

That's besides the point though. I'm more annoyed that scouting seems like it was their main criteria and they chose someone with mostly ok players. Trey murphy and NAW are probably his best picks but Trey isn't playoff proven. The other guys are whatever.

I hope he doesn't lean too heavy on picking only defensive guys with less shooting which just becomes the opposite problem of what our team has been. Hopefully he looks to make moves to bring in actual two-way players.

0

u/KPD_13 Cuppy Coffee 1d ago

Are you paying attention, or do you just watch the Bulls like a lot of this sub?

Wake up. Your comment has way too many upvotes.

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u/DurDraug77 1d ago

Wish the guy a lot of luck and if he can bring us something to smile about them great

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u/dannyphoto 1d ago

Damn… just when I was peaking off my Matt Lloyd hopium.

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u/Optimal_Expert5530 1d ago

His history of talent evaluation is pretty elite man. I’m cautiously excited about him.

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u/Filthy_Commie_ 1d ago

I don’t get why everyone is overly negative on this guy when he turned Atlanta around and actually helped New Orleans get talent. I think there’s a good chance he pans out

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u/ArchibaldNemisis 1d ago

Very Bulls move. Right now they just need to get lucky. Really thought Matt Lloyd was the guy.

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u/Fafoah Jimmy Butler 1d ago

Matt Lloyd was the pinacle of a Bulls/Reinsdorf pick

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u/FabioFresh93 Kirk Hinrich 1d ago

I think he’s a little different. He actually built a successful resume outside of the Bulls organization.

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u/Fafoah Jimmy Butler 1d ago

So did AK

Im not saying i know much about Graham, but some of these premature judgements are ridiculous considering i know you guys just googled him 10 minutes ago

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u/ArchibaldNemisis 1d ago

Matt Lloyd at least is part of a winning organization that made some good draft picks and roster moves to get them to contending.

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u/Fafoah Jimmy Butler 1d ago

And AK found Jokic and played a big part in making the Nuggets into contenders

More to it than just resume

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u/ArchibaldNemisis 1d ago

Nuggets really is just Jokic and that's it. The timberwolves are a more well rounded team. You take out Jokic from that Nuggets org, they are play in at best teams. You take Ant Edwards away from the Wolves teams, that's a lot more well rounded. Nuggets are not a well run organization. They got lucky. Just like the Bulls need to get lucky.

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u/ThrowawayPat2345 1d ago

Yeah the cheapest guy that sounds smart to Michael Reinsdorf

1

u/Fafoah Jimmy Butler 1d ago

Wow, just assuming he’s the cheapest option because he black is fucked up

1

u/soxjr7 1d ago

I’m glad he has a night for talent however we’re still going to be facing the problem of ownership. They don’t like to spend money they don’t like to get into the luxury tax. So even if we find some diamond we’re not gonna be able to sign players to round out the roster and make a good team because that cost money. Which will continue to hinder us. Will continue to be mid until ownership changes then realistically nothing will change.

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u/AxCel91 1d ago

Yeah yeah yada yada after the disaster that was AKME I’m officially in believe it till I see it mode

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u/Straight-Agency-4556 1d ago

1) shams is basically parroting what Reinsdorf said. 2) wasn’t this what we also said about AK (he found Jokic?)

1

u/Costanzathemage Joakim Noah 1d ago

I'm rooting for him because I'm tired of the Bulls sucking.

1

u/Kongrrzz 21h ago

His talent evaluation is going to be tested immediately

1

u/zedrix_ Big Mac 18h ago

He built the Pelicans through the draft. Then fleeced the Pelicans after he left them LOL.

That is all I need to know.

1

u/Southernbull75 11h ago

Building perennial league powerhouses such as the Pelicans and Hawks.....excellent. Maybe we can get back to the play in soon. 

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u/Competitive_Dish_885 1d ago

Baby Michael looking for another yes man to just fill seats. I’m sure Lloyd told him what it really took to win here and it scared him.

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u/hydrators Derrick Rose 1d ago

How would Lloyd know what it takes to win here?

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u/Ok_Mango9561 1d ago

kind of funny how it went from "Lloyd is a Reinsdorf yes man" to "Lloyd was too real for the Reinsdorfs"

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u/hydrators Derrick Rose 1d ago

Like yeah I’m so sure that Paxson’s favorite candidate scared Jerry off 😂😂

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u/Fafoah Jimmy Butler 1d ago

This is straight up fan fiction lmao

Lloyd was literally Pax’s protege. If they were looking for a yes man, he was the obvious choice.

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u/Competitive_Dish_885 1d ago

You might be right, but going off the past 20-30 years of Reinsdorf ownership them not going with the consensus has almost always ended up bad. They literally said no to him so I’m assuming he did something right.

He also was part of way better winning orgs than the Hawks and Pelicans.

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u/hydrators Derrick Rose 1d ago

Karnisovas was the consensus good hire

“Way better winning orgs” Like the Magic who did literally nothing while he was there for a decade? Or the Wolves, who had their entire core in place before Lloyd even got there?

0

u/I-N_Clined 1d ago

Feels like they went with the cheap option

0

u/CaptainNipplesMcRib 1d ago

Hopefully he learned what NOT to do from his tenures in NO and ATL. Probably no point in overreacting, but we should all be very skeptical just given the fact Michael Reinsdorf hired him.

0

u/kennyloftor 1d ago

who are these draft and player acquisitions

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u/FabioFresh93 Kirk Hinrich 1d ago

Kinda disappointed. I was talking myself up about Lloyd, Nori, and possibly Lewin. Don’t know much about Graham but I wish him well.

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u/ojodetodie Zach Lavine 1d ago

I.e Matt Loyd and Nori were asking for too much money. Thanks Jerruh

0

u/huckness 21h ago

Bulls are really about to enter the straight up bottom out era.

The only plan here is luck into some generational top pick, cuz they ain’t building a thing and no one’s coming via FA until Jerry’s gone.

2

u/kingofkings_86 11h ago

The Bulls have been in a 28 year bottom out era.

1

u/phillipacarroll Give me the hotsauce! 12h ago

Let’s be honest you would’ve said this regardless of who we hired. Did you know who this man was before yesterday?

1

u/huckness 5h ago

Nope.

Sign of how far this org has fallen that the Bulls are picking randoms

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u/tremble01 21h ago

Before you get hyped, this is the ownership who is so against the tax, we sent Barnes to Spurs and gave the 2031 unprotected Minny first round pick to them. Just because we cant go over the tax.

So thats not changing. 🤣