3) Chicago Bulls with concerning dips in play
Patrick Williams, Forward
It is some of the younger Bulls players that seem to not be finding their way of late. And given the level of competition that the Bulls faced in their last two games, that should not be all that surprising. But it is a bit worrisome that Donovan is seeing an apparent dip in confidence and a lot of hesitation from the rookie former Florida State Seminoles forward Patrick Williams of late.
Williams came out of the gates hot during the Bulls four-game preseason slate, and had a good start to the regular season too. But his play has largely waned of late, and it mostly looks due to inconsistencies in his confidence and situational production on both ends of the floor. He’s drawing a lot of difficult defensive matchups, against the likes of Celtics wing Jaylen Brown and Lakers forward LeBron James.
In the last two games, Williams was a net negative on the floor on each occasion. And three of his worst game scores of the season so far came in the last three games. He’s also not picking up as many blocks and steals in the last three or four games as he did coming out of the gates this season. In the last four games combined, Williams gave the Bulls just one block and one steal.
On the season in total, Williams has played in 16 games for the Bulls (all of which he’s started in), averaging around 25 minutes on the floor per game. He’s also averaged 9.4 points per game, 4.0 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 0.8 steals, 0.7 blocks, and 1.6 turnovers. Williams shot 46.0 percent from the field, 44.0 percent from beyond the arc, and 80.8 percent from the free-throw line.