The work now begins for Bryson Graham, the new Executive VP of Basketball Operations for the Chicago Bulls. The 2026 NBA Draft Lottery on Sunday, May 10, will mark the first step towards what is destined to be a new chapter in franchise history.
On Friday, Graham laid bare what he is looking for in terms of draftees, per Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. More than anything, Graham is looking for a defensive juggernaut who fits into an acronym he designed for himself.
“When you compete on the defensive end of the floor, your team typically plays harder, and you are starting to see that in the playoffs,” Graham said. “The teams that are having success are very good on that side of the ball. We want obviously two-way players. I refer to it as guys who have SLAP: Size, length, athleticism and physicality is going to be felt on the defensive side of the ball. We would love to have size, length, athleticism and physicality all across the board. The more versatile you can be, the better you are. Whoever is guarding at the point of attack can also guard on the wings and switch onto a big. Then you have something serious; you’re really dangerous now.”
Additionally, Graham made it clear that the NBA Draft is the launch pad for what can come next.
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“We’ve got some pretty good young players, but we know this draft is going to be the first real layer to this foundation going forward,” Graham said. “I’m not taking anything away or trying to strike fear in the guys on the roster. That’s just the nature of this business. I’m not going to sit here and say that no one on this roster is untouchable. That doesn’t mean that we’re trading guys. We’re going to come in. We’re going to look at this holistically. And then we’re going to proceed.”
The Bulls have two top-15-round draft picks.
The work now begins for Bryson Graham, the new Executive VP of Basketball Operations for the Chicago Bulls. The 2026 NBA Draft Lottery on Sunday, May 10, will mark the first step towards what is destined to be a new chapter in franchise history. On Friday, Graham laid bare what he is looking for in terms of draftees, per Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times.