Grading Chicago Bulls 2020 draft picks/UDFA’s
The pick that everyone is talking about in the Bulls camp, and what might be the most surprising selection of the entire draft lottery on the night of Nov. 18, was the former Florida State Seminoles freshman forward Patrick Williams going fourth overall. The reigning ACC Sixth Man of the Year and ACC All-Freshman Team selection did have a solid freshman campaign in Tallahassee, but few expected him to go that high on draft night.
This standout 6-foot-8 and 225 pound 19-year-old forward is one of the more promising and dynamic two-way prospects in this draft class, but his scouting report also came with a number of question marks. Many draft pundits around the media landscape felt that the Bulls had a better fit for their positional/rotational needs by drafting a prospect like Maccabi Tel Aviv shooting guard/wing Deni Avdija, Iowa State point guard Tyrese Haliburton, or even Auburn small forward Isaac Okoro.
But the reports coming out during and in the hours following draft night, there were some more convincing cases made that the Bulls had a positive and well thought out decision by drafting Williams fourth overall. He is an athletic and promising two-way forward that has tremendous potential as a one-on-one defender and an overpowering and versatile scorer on the offensive end.
During the shortened 2019-20 college hoops season at Florida State, Williams played in 29 games (actually none of which he started in). And he averaged 9.2 points per game, 4.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.0 blocks. Williams shot 45.9 percent from the field, 32.0 percent from beyond the arc, and a solid 83.8 percent from the free-throw line.
The more and more I think about the pick, the more and more I’m willing to at least bump up the grade a bit (my original grade for the Williams pick on draft night was a C-).