Paul Sullivan: Bryson Graham didn’t make this Bulls mess, but it’s his job to fix mistakes of his predecessors
CHICAGO — Michael Reinsdorf took over the reins of the Chicago Bulls from his famous father in 2010, but mostly remained in the shadows over the last 16 years until firing executives Artūras Karnišovas and Marc Eversley last month. On Monday, the Bulls president and son of Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf left no doubts that he’s ready to leave his own imprint on the organization, hiring 39-year-old Atlanta Hawks executive Bryson Graham to lead the team through what might be its most crucial stretch since the end of the Jordan era. Bulls fans have patiently awaited a team that consistently competes for a long playoff run, but years of inefficient upper management and a lack of accountability have put them in a “prove it” state of mind.
It’s not Graham’s fault they’ve lost faith in the organization, but it’s now his job to put the broken pieces back together by any means necessary. Many observers believed the Bulls would hire Minnesota senior director of basketball operations Matt Lloyd, a former Bulls employee who checked all the boxes of a quintessential Jerry Reinsdorf hire, meaning they’ve had his employee profile in the company computer since it was first put on a floppy disc in the mid-90s. But Michael went in the opposite direction and brought in someone with no ties at all to the organization or to the Reinsdorfs themselves.
Graham gets a fresh start in a new town with a fan base that just wants to win, and he deserves a chance to earn fans’ trust. He’s been touted as a great talent evaluator, which would seem to be a requirement of any candidate, and is reputed to be a strong communicator. The bar is already low in that area, as Michael Reinsdorf conceded during last month’s Zoom call with reporters, suggesting poor executive communicators have been the norm since former general manager Jerry Krause began harrumphing in 1985.
(He absolved John Paxson of any communication breakdowns. ) Graham comes into his new job with some heavy lifting to do, and won’t get the benefit of the doubt that Theo Epstein did when he came to the Chicago Cubs from the Boston Red Sox at the age of 37 with two championships under his belt. New Orleans and Atlanta aren’t exactly model NBA franchises, despite his talent evaluation skills.
Graham will be introduced to the media on Wednesday at the Advocate Center, where the man of mystery will get his first chance to present his vision of the future of an iconic NBA franchise that’s fallen on hard times. Here are four questions that might be asked. What kind of coach is he looking for?
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