Patience should win the day in the approach that Chicago Bulls fans take with expectations for forward Patrick Williams in his rookie season.
The hopeful outlook that the Chicago Bulls and newly hired executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas have for their lottery pick from the 2020 NBA Draft, former Florida State forward Patrick Williams, could come to the forefront this season. Williams got a lot of playing time for newly hired former Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan off the bench in the Bulls first two preseason games.
And the result of the first two games of this four-game preseason slate for the Bulls were one win and one loss. Both of their initial preseason games came at home at the United Center against the Houston Rockets. Williams and the Bulls notched a loss in their preseason tip off on Dec. 11, by the convincing final score of 125-104.
But then the Bulls responded well in a Dec. 13 home win over the Rockets, by the comfortable final score of 104-91. Now the Bulls are set to hit the road to travel to OKC to face the Thunder to round out their preseason slate. Donovan and the Bulls will face his former team twice, on Dec. 16 and 18, to round out the preseason this year.
Williams will continue to be a key figurehead for this Bulls team throughout the preseason, and heading into the regular season. The Bulls tip off their regular season slate on Dec. 23 at home against the Atlanta Hawks. While we aren’t likely to see Williams in the starting five by then, he could already be garnering sixth or seventh man role types of minutes.
Here’s a look into three bold predictions for Williams for his rookie season in 2020-21.
3) Bold predictions for Chicago Bulls F Patrick Williams
He will shoot 37 percent from downtown as a rookie
A lot of the buy in that Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley had to put in with Williams with the fourth overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft was that his promise would win the day. Some of the per game stats and shooting efficiencies that Williams put on display during his one year playing for Florida State didn’t inspire much confidence.
While Williams did win the ACC Sixth Man of the Year honors, you will rarely see a freshman that wasn’t even a starter in his one college season picked in the top four in the NBA Draft. Williams did play in 29 games during the 2019-20 college hoops season with Florida State (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 83.8 percent from the free-throw line. Those shooting percentages were good for a 49.8 effective field goal percentage and 55.3 true shooting percentage.
So far in two preseason games, Williams is shooting a solid 40.0 percent from beyond the arc, to go along with 43 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from the charity stripe. If Williams can continue to show a high level of improvement shooting from downtown, then it’s not out of the question that he could stroke it from at least 35-37 percent from beyond the arc during his rookie season.
2) Bold predictions for Chicago Bulls F Patrick Williams
He becomes Billy Donovan’s favorite forward to use
At least through the first two games of the preseason slate, Williams and combo guard Tomas Satoransky have become the favorites of Donovan in terms of usage off the bench. Sato and Williams are combining for around 50 minutes per game off the bench in the split home series against the Rockets last weekend.
If Williams continues to show a good spark in his game early in his rookie campaign, his role with the Bulls should only continue to expand heading into the regular season. Williams looked like a reach during draft night for Karnisovas and the Bulls, but the early signs are looking good for him with this rebuild in its fourth year.
A patient approach was, and will be, needed in the case of following Williams’ development early in his NBA career. He was one of the youngest prospects in this draft class, and the overall youngest picked in the lottery. He won’t even turn 20 years old until likely after the end of his rookie season.
Moreover, with how Donovan likes to use bigger and more athletic two-way forwards in his schemes on both ends of the floor, the chances that Williams is a great system fit are high. Some additional space that Williams had to work with as a tertiary ball handler on the perimeter in his first two preseason games did wonders for his shooting efficiencies. He also looked good as a one-on-one defender in that span of games last weekend.
1) Bold predictions for Chicago Bulls F Patrick Williams
Will replace Lauri Markkanen in starting five by season’s end
With the addition of Williams to the frontcourt rotation for the Bulls naturally comes more pressure on the shoulders of fourth-year former Arizona Wildcats seven-footer and 23-year-old power forward Lauri Markkanen this season. There was going to be a lot of pressure on Markkanen’s shoulders as is entering the final year of his rookie contract.
Now that Williams will be lurking in his shadow on the power forward depth chart, in all likelihood at the outset of this regular season, Markkanen will really have to perform well out of the gates. All in all, this could be a really good driving factor in Markkanen’s game since something will have to give compared to how he produced last season.
Markkanen’s third year in the NBA was likely his worst in terms of per game stats and advanced metrics. He did stay healthier than usual, which is a good sign. But this season he needs to parlay this new opportunity in the final year of his rookie contract with a possible cleaner bill of health to prove he will be valuable to this rebuild over the long haul.
There is a chance that Williams could slot at the three for the future, over veteran small forward Otto Porter Jr. But that would be a potentially clunky lineup for Donovan, running Williams alongside Markkanen and center Wendell Carter Jr. There is a greater likelihood that Williams would battle with Markkanen for the starting spot at the four.