Bryson Graham moved the Bulls roster out of the No. 38 pick and made the choice sound simpler than the trade math. He said the second-round board had dried up and that roster flexibility mattered more than adding another prospect.
Bryson Graham and No. 38
Graham said the issue started with the board, not with sentiment. His words were blunt: "the board dried up" and "There are only so many roster spots."
That is why the Bulls traded No. 38 and sold No. 56. The No. 38 deal brought back two future second-round pick swaps and no additional picks, which makes the move look less like a player grab and more like a bet on future maneuvering room.
Kam Jones and $1.1M
The roster logic gets more specific because Kam Jones was selected at No. 38 by Indiana the year prior, and his salary is half-guaranteed at $1.1 million. The tax-constrained Pacers wanted another team to add that salary to its cap, but Jones was not part of the Bulls' informal roster count.
Will Gottlieb framed the trade as a matter of price, writing that "maybe Graham’s point with the early second round is revelatory in a way not exposing Graham executing some evil ownership directive, but that he simply received poor trade value." Bleacher Nation added, "Yesterday, that logic felt a little harder to buy because they had just acquired Jones. Today, it makes a lot more sense if he isn’t part of the long-term plan."
The Bulls roster math
The complication is the roster math itself. NBA teams must trim to 15 roster spots plus 3 two-ways when the regular season begins, but the offseason limit rises to 20 roster spots, so Graham’s explanation about limited spots sits beside a bigger temporary allowance.
That gap is what makes the trade useful to track now. Graham has already addressed the second-round moves in his introductory press conference and in interviews with The Score and AM1000, and the next roster decisions will show whether the Bulls use that added room or keep turning it into future flexibility.
