JUNE 25: The Pelicans have officially named Graham their new general manager, confirming the promotion in a press release.
“Over his 14 NBA seasons, Bryson has built a stellar reputation throughout the NBA,” executive VP of basketball operations David Griffin said in a statement. “First and foremost, he is recognized for the strength of his character. His work ethic, basketball acumen, leadership ability and eye for talent have contributed immeasurably to our growth as a franchise. I couldn’t be happier to see him assume the role of general manager of the New Orleans Pelicans.”
The Pelicans, who also lost key executives Michael Blackstone to Detroit and Michael Hartman to Washington this spring, have announced another hire, indicating that Jon Moul has been named the team’s senior director of cap and strategy. Moul has spent the past seven seasons in various roles with the Hornets.
MAY 26: The Pelicans are expected to promote assistant general manager Bryson Graham to be their new GM, sources tell Will Guillory and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Graham will be replacing Trajan Langdon, who is heading to Detroit to be the Pistons’ president of basketball operations. Michael Scotto of HoopsHype recently reported that Graham would likely be the top candidate for a promotion to GM if Langdon were to leave the organization. Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reported similarly last summer.
Graham has been with New Orleans since 2010, initially starting as an intern and steadily working his way up the ranks through the team’s front office. He played college basketball for three years at Texas A&M before getting an NBA job.
“I think he’s really good,” one NBA executive said of Graham a couple years ago. “He’s smart, he works hard and he knows his s–t. (He) will be a GM in the next five years.”
David Griffin is 8th best GM in my book.
signing free agents, making trades, plotting for drafts and is active at the trade deadline.
Griffin is a better GM than most of the big cities.
The real test will be whether Graham has fallen in love with the players already there, or if he realizes that a shake up is overdue. Pelicans would need to catch lightning in a bottle to win with this group. Is Graham good enough to trade away a player or two and bring back better pieces via trade or draft? we’re about to see very soon
Ingram will be playing elsewhere next year. Hopefully for Daruis Garland!