Bulls executive VP of basketball operations Bryson Graham has a history of finding overlooked talent, including Jose Alvarado, whom he signed as an undrafted free agent in New Orleans. His next discovery may be Jaylin Sellers, who could play a significant role this season in Chicago.
Alvarado became an immediate impact bench player with the Pelicans, and by his third season, he was a candidate for the Sixth Man of the Year Award. After being acquired at last year's trade deadline, he played a part in the New York Knicks' NBA title run.
Sellers has some work to do to carve out a role in Chicago, but his strong summer league performance surely has him on head coach Tiago Splitter's radar.
Bryson Graham has a history of spotting hidden gems
Alvarado was NBADraft.net's 90th-ranked prospect in the 2021 draft class. His general scouting report was spot on as an undersized, disruptive point-of-attack defender, but Graham and the Pelicans had enough foresight to snatch him up before anyone else could.
Sellers already seems like a similar revelation.
The 23-year-old was a productive scorer in his fifth and final collegiate season at Providence. He averaged 18.3 points per game, which led the Big East Conference, and shot 42.9 percent from 3-point range on 5.6 attempts a night.
That ability to score and shoot from distance popped in summer league.
Sellers averaged 15.6 points across five contests, and while he shot just 23.7 percent from three, he made at least two triples in every game but one and scored a game-high 24 points in the Bulls' lone victory in Vegas.
While Graham has aced his first offseason in charge in Chicago, he hasn't exactly acquired an abundance of shooters. Caleb Wilson was the most dominant player in summer league, but his 3-point stroke was a pleasant surprise to everyone (minus Wilson himself, who doesn't seem to lack for confidence). The Bulls can't count on him to hit more than three per game as a rookie.
Free-agent pickup Norman Powell is by far the best shooter on the Bulls' roster, but there's not a lot of depth behind him. Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis improved last season, but teams won't treat them as legitimate threats from deep. Forward Jalen Smith is the only other returning player who made at least 1.5 threes per game last year.
Sellers' ability to space the floor and five years of college experience could earn him minutes at some point this season, which would give Graham his first Alvarado-like steal in Chicago.
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