It’s been a hectic first few weeks for Chicago Bulls executive VP of basketball operations Bryson Graham — a good kind of hectic, but hectic nonetheless. Graham did just cross one item off his to-do list, though, by hiring Stephen Mervis, formerly of the Orlando Magic, as Chicago’s senior vice president of basketball operations.
With Mervis — a veteran NBA salary cap manager — as his second-in-command, Graham's role as sole roster constructor is cemented.
Graham tabbed Acie Law, who played for the Bulls during the 2009-10 season, as his vice president of player personnel.
But the addition of Mervis and, more specifically, his set of NBA skills, paints a clear picture of how the team's new front office will function.
Bulls’ Bryson Graham hires salary-cap guru Mervis as senior VP
ESPN insider Shams Charania reported on May 14 that Graham and the Bulls will hire Mervis as the organization’s new senior VP of basketball operations.
Mervis has held several front office roles during his time in the NBA, including director of basketball strategy, VP of basketball strategy and assistant GM, his final title in Orlando before departing for the Windy City.
Most pertinently, the 37-year-old specialized in salary cap management and CBA issues and was one of The Athletic's top 40 executives under 40, according to the Orlando Sentinel (subscription required).
Graham, meanwhile, has a reputation as an elite talent evaluator. During his time heading the draft in New Orleans, he landed a group of talented young two-way players, including Trey Murphy III, Herb Jones, Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
Graham’s hiring of a seasoned salary-cap manager like Mervis is an ideal complement and ensures he can continue to focus on finding and adding young players.
Chicago is in smart hands with Bryson Graham
Since being hired to replace Karnisovas on May 4, the 39-year-old Graham has given Bulls fans more reason for hope than Karnisovas and his GM, Marc Eversley, ever did.
His first public comments were fluent and transparent. That shouldn’t seem like a massive accomplishment, but Karnisovas was rarely either of those things, if ever.
Then the Bulls experienced a miraculous stroke of luck and vaulted five spots to earn the No. 4 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. Graham was transparent about that, too.
By all accounts, the organization has the right guy in place to use that valuable asset and not let it go to waste. Graham found gems in the lottery (Daniels), the middle of the first round (Murphy III), the second round (Jones) and even the undrafted free agent market (Jose Alvarado).
There's no denying Graham has a long road ahead of him, but things seem to have quickly jumped on the right track.
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