{"id":845879,"date":"2026-09-28T13:24:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T13:24:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/845879\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T13:24:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T13:24:16","slug":"bryson-graham-sees-something-in-his-nba-past-worth-placing-in-the-bulls-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/845879\/","title":{"rendered":"Bryson Graham sees something in his NBA past worth placing in the Bulls\u2019 future"},"content":{"rendered":"

As part of a suite of organizational updates that set the stage<\/a> for the Chicago Bulls’ 2026-27 training camp, on Thursday, the Bulls announced a final slate of front office staff hirings reporting ultimately to Bulls lead front office executive Bryson Graham.<\/p>\n

Building out the rest of the staff \ud83d\udccb pic.twitter.com\/56cQRBHwDE<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) September 24, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Brian Hagen assumes the role of senior vice president of player personnel.\u00a0 Dionne Calhoun fills the role of assistant athletic trainer.\u00a0 Alex Kaufman joins the franchise as senior manager of basketball operations and general manager of the Windy City Bulls.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jarrett Sutton slotted in as a scout and intelligence coordinator.\u00a0 Justin Irwin is due to serve as the franchise\u2019s assistant strength and conditioning coach.\u00a0 Finally, Noah Fax will fill the role of coordinator of basketball operations.<\/p>\n

Since the NBA is well known to be a league of relationships<\/a>, it\u2019s worth pointing out the common denominator within a few of Graham\u2019s latest staff hirings.\u00a0 The New Orleans Pelicans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Given the majority ex-Pelicans representation in the Bulls\u2019 front office hiring update, it\u2019s reasonable to conclude that something in Bryson Graham\u2019s career history in New Orleans is compelling him to reunite himself with a collection of his former Pelicans front office staffmates in Chicago.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The backstory on Graham\u2019s final staff hires<\/p>\n

Brian Hagen was a Pelicans colleague early in Graham\u2019s front office career in New Orleans during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 NBA seasons, before embarking on a 15-year career with the Bulls.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fun trivia fact: there was a Pelicans rookie on the franchise\u2019s 2010-11 season roster who also carved out a career stop <\/a>in the Bulls organization and will make their return to the franchise during the 2026-27 NBA season – Quincy Pondexter.<\/p>\n

Alex Kaufman and Jarrett Sutton are more contemporary ex-Pelicans brethren with Graham, as they both entered the Pelicans organization back in 2019 and worked in a variety of roles predominantly focused on scouting.<\/p>\n

There are two ways this can work out<\/p>\n

The biggest concern one might have about Graham stocking his Bulls front office full of Pelicans alumni is that he may be prioritizing cronies over competence in his staff hiring.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t take a battery of data analytics queries to know the New Orleans Pelicans are historically bereft of fielding winning basketball teams.<\/p>\n

In the Pelicans\u2019 franchise period in which Hagen and Graham overlapped, one season resulted in the Pelicans making an NBA playoff appearance (2011), and the other season resulted in a 21-45 win-loss record for the 2011-12 NBA regular season.<\/p>\n

As for Kaufman and Sutton\u2019s Pelicans overlap with Graham, the franchise only notched two NBA playoff appearances out of six NBA seasons (2022, 2024).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In isolation, Graham and his Pelicans contemporaries scored a few scouting hits, drafting players like Dyson Daniels or Nickeil Alexander-Walker.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the Bryson Graham front office is either going to prove that extenuating circumstances muted the full potential of the competitive strategy and scouting vision<\/a> Graham and his buddies cooked up in New Orleans, or Bulls fans may be in for a frustrating Bulls front office evolution if Graham\u2019s NOLA front-office reunion, wrapped in red and black, looks a lot like the actual New Orleans Pelicans.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow<\/a>