It came a half-decade too late, but the Chicago Bulls are off and running with their rebuild under executive VP of basketball operations Bryson Graham. Perhaps the first tipping point of Graham's tenure arrived last week when the 39-year-old passed on opportunities to sign Bennedict Mathurin and Jonathan Kuminga.
The Bulls were linked to both Mathurin and Kuminga this offseason; the Kuminga rumors peaked in the hours before he signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Mathurin joined the New Orleans Pelicans days earlier.
Both are young, athletic players who would fit nicely into Chicago's new direction — and neither cost much to acquire.
Passing on them could make Graham either look like a genius for avoiding two high-variance players or a fool for missing the chance to sign a budding young star (or stars).
Major gamble(s) will define early stages of Bulls rebuild under Graham
Graham appears to have nailed his first test in Chicago by selecting Caleb Wilson with the No. 4 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. Wilson already looks like a future superstar.
Addressing a long-term need at center by trading for Nic Claxton was a smart low-risk, high-reward move. Adding 33-year-old Norman Powell in free agency was a surprise, but Powell's contract is easily tradeable as soon as December. Re-signing Zach Collins seemed odd at first, but as it turns out, his deal is even more tradeable than Powell's.
Anytime the Bulls want to move on from them, they can turn two veterans into future draft picks.
It's hard to argue with any of the decisions Graham has made in Chicago. At least until Mathurin and Kuminga signed elsewhere.
Passing on a 24-year-old guard like Mathurin, a proven scorer who's averaged 16.2 points across his five NBA seasons, is less defensible. Avoiding Kuminga, a 23-year-old forward who checks the size, length, athleticism and physicality boxes Graham looks for in a player, is also questionable.
And considering Mathurin signed a two-year, $16 million contract with the Pelicans (with a player option) and Kuminga signed for just $12.4 million across two seasons with Minnesota (also with a player option), the decisions to decline both players look even more dubious.
It feels like passing on these two potentially ascending players is the first real inflection point for the Bulls under Graham. Whether they were smart decisions or massive whiffs could make or break the first few seasons of the franchise's rebuild.
Add us as a preferred source on Google