Bryson Graham’s tenure with the Chicago Bulls is going to start with an easier decision than any of the ones Arturas Karnisovas made in the NBA Draft. North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson is the obvious selection at pick No. 4. And while hindsight is convenient, the reality is that Karnisovas never got to make a pick anywhere near as obvious.
Karnisovas took over as the lead of Chicago’s front office in 2020, and from then through the 2025 NBA Draft, none of the selections were clear. At least, nowhere near as clear as Wilson will be at No. 4. Graham will have a chance to kickstart his time in Chicago with a certain selection.
Wilson seems like a lock to join the Bulls at this year’s draft.
Caleb Wilson is the most obvious draft pick the Bulls have had in years
In 2020 – Karnisovas’ first draft as the leader of the Bulls’ front office - Chicago had the No. 4 pick. Karnisovas decided to select Partick Williams. Obviously, that pick didn’t really work out for the Bulls.
A lot of mock drafts had the Bulls selecting Deni Avdija, who has turned into a star for the Portland Trail Blazers. But others had Williams mocked. And a lot of mock drafts had lots of different orders.
The following year, in 2021, the Bulls didn’t own their first-round pick. It belonged to the Orlando Magic by way of the Nikola Vucevic trade. Giving up the pick was a mistake in and of itself.
In 2022, Chicago selected Dalen Terry with the 18th overall pick. That late in the first round, it’s impossible to have an obvious pick. It’s undoubtedly difficult to draft past the first few picks, let alone outside the lottery.
A couple of mock drafts had the Bulls taking Malaki Branham. Another projected them to select big man Jalen Duren, who was a first-time All-Star this season. And one even had Jalen Williams – now a star with the Oklahoma City Thunder – falling to them.
Chicago’s 2023 first also belonged to the Magic via the Vucevic trade, and in the 2024 and 2025, the Bulls picked Matas Buzelis at No. 11 and Noa Essengue at No. 12.
Instead of Buzelis, mocks had the Bulls taking players like Rob Dillingham and Isaiah Collier. And the next year, a lot of drafts predicted Chicago to take Collin Murray-Boyles, but he was off the board at their pick, proving the uncertainty they were working with.
This year, it’s Wilson.
The top three are rarely as obvious as they are this season: Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa, and Cameron Boozer. Those guys are going to go top three, and if they don’t, it will be obvious that the Bulls take whoever is left.
Karnisovas never had a pick as obvious as Graham does this year, and that’s largely thanks to Wilson (and Karnisovas’ bad decision to trade two firsts during his tenure).
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