The Chicago Bulls hired Bryson Graham as their new executive vice president of basketball operations, securing one of the NBA's top talent evaluators. But his role in the infamous Derik Queen draft-night trade between the Atlanta Hawks and New Orleans Pelicans should have Bulls fans eager to see what he could pull off this summer.
Graham replaces Arturas Karnisovas, who was fired last month, as Chicago’s lead decision-maker. The 39-year-old has a strong track record of finding gems in the draft, whether they come from lottery selections, second-round picks or even undrafted free agency, where he landed Jose Alvarado.
But making picks isn’t Graham’s only area of expertise.
Bryson Graham helped Hawks win legendary Derik Queen trade
The Pelicans needed Queen so badly last summer that they were willing to trade the No. 23 pick and an unprotected first in 2026 to move up 10 spots and grab the Maryland big man.
Considering New Orleans was coming off a 21-61 season and hadn’t made any worthwhile upgrades, the Hawks were just about guaranteed a top-10 pick in this year’s deep and talented pool. It was an unbelievable trade for Atlanta.
Literally unbelievable for Graham, according to Shamit Dua, who covers the Pelicans via Substack. Just weeks after the trade, Dua relayed this story:
"One Eastern executive with knowledge of how the conversation went from Atlanta’s perspective described a perplexing scene. When Senior Vice President Troy Weaver made the call to Atlanta’s Bryson Graham, Graham couldn’t believe what was actually being offered. Graham asked for clarification multiple times to confirm the unprotected pick was indeed part of the deal."
It would've been crazy to turn that offer down.
(The Bulls picked one spot ahead of the Pelicans last June. Who knows if Karnisovas was offered the same deal, but it's not difficult to imagine New Orleans phoned Chicago to move up to 12 instead of 13.)
Graham is a perfect fit for the 2026 Chicago Bulls
The Pelicans-Hawks swap is possibly a once-in-a-generation type of deal. It wouldn't be fair to expect Graham to regularly acquire free lottery picks.
But his draft record goes much deeper. During his time in New Orleans, the 39-year-old exec acquired Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Herb Jones and Trey Murphy III, among others, via the summer selection process.
Armed with two top-15 picks in a stacked 2026 NBA Draft (three in the top 38), Graham is well-positioned to do what he does best and infuse the Bulls with some much-needed young talent.
If he can swindle teams out of valuable picks while doing it, even better.
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