Patrick Williams Could Swing Chicago Bulls’ 2022-23 Season

The Chicago Bulls were quiet at last season’s trade deadline and didn’t make any significant additions this offseason, opting for continuity, improved health and internal development to take a step forward in 2022-23. 21-year-old Patrick Williams is the embodiment of all this hope after he played just 17 games last season due to a broken wrist.

The No. 4 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Williams showed flashes in significant minutes as a rookie and was looking to make a big leap in 2021-22 as one of the few rotation players with size in Chicago. Instead, Williams suffered the freaky wrist injury just five games into the season, dealing his development and the Bulls a setback.

Williams returned at the tail end of the regular season and again showed tantalizing flashes of his potential. After initially doing very little upon his return, he hit double-digit scoring in five of the last six regular-season games, including a 35-point outing to close the season against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He then reached the 20-point mark in the last two games against the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.

Some caveats are required to note. Those 35 points came against Timberwolves backups in a game that meant nothing. Those last two games against the Bucks came after an 0-of-9 shooting performance in Game 3 and were in total blowouts where Williams was barely being guarded.

Still, they offered a glimmer of hope amid the Bulls’ brutal finish to the season. And now with the front office essentially running it back in 2022-23, it’s clear how much faith they have in Williams to take that next step.

It was already somewhat clear given the trade rumors involving Williams over the last year. The Bulls reportedly weren’t willing to trade Williams for a more proven power forward like Jerami Grant and were hesitant to include him for a three-time Defensive Player if the Year in Rudy Gobert. A trade for Gobert wasn’t in the cards anyway even if Williams was put on the table given what the Timberwolves wound up giving up, but the reluctance spoke volumes.

It’s at least somewhat understandable. Williams looks the part of a player who can make a major impact in the NBA. He’s 6-foot-7 with huge hands (hence The Paw nickname), tree-trunk legs and an impressive two-way skill set that just needs to bloom. The Kawhi Leonard comparisons are extra, but squint and you can sort of see a poor man’s Kawhi in there.

One big question right now is if Williams has the mentality to consistently put his imprint on games. Too often he fades into the background and fails to make himself noticed. While some of this so far can be explained by his youth, his role and his injury, he must show this season he can make his mark as a high-level role player and then perhaps even more down the road.

Williams has proven he can knock down open 3-pointers (41.3% for his career), but he must be more willing to let them fly without hesitation (1.9 attempts in 27.3 minutes per game) and must speed up his release. Once opponents actually fear his outside shot, he’ll have to counter by beating closeouts and using his intriguing in-between game while also aggressively attacking the basket at times.

The Bulls can also help Williams’ development by giving him more ball-handling reps. That won’t happen much with the starters, but giving Williams more freedom with bench units is something Billy Donovan must try out this season. Even if Williams is primarily used as a floor spacer, they need to experiment with other aspects of his game so he can actually flesh out his game.

Defensively, Williams has already taken on the toughest matchups across the NBA. He battles and has had his share of highlight-reel plays, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Getting stronger and continuing to learn the nuances of NBA team defense should help him become an impact defender. It would also be great to see him able to play some small-ball 5 effectively to give the Bulls more versatility with their lineups.

The young forward has been putting in a lot of work this summer entering this crucial Year 3, and the Bulls are counting on him. There’s going to be a lot of pressure on Williams to perform, which might not be all that fair for a 21-year-old, but it is what it is with this roster and after all the trade rumors.

If Williams is able to make that leap, that gives the Bulls an exciting new ceiling. It wouldn’t be a championship ceiling just yet, but Williams actually becoming a thing would be a game-changer for the franchise, especially with the Eastern Conference continuing to improve around them. The division rival Cleveland Cavaliers trading for Donovan Mitchell only complicates matters further for Chicago.

But this leap isn’t guaranteed, and skepticism is warranted based on what we’ve seen so far. It’s up to Patrick Williams to prove the skeptics wrong.