Chicago Bulls: 3 Players who disappointed in April

Chicago Bulls Players that Struggled in April: Patrick Williams

It’s too easy to simply assume Patrick Williams has hit a rookie wall and claiming that is the reason for the slow down of production he has had. It is also the wrong assumption to make.

His shooting numbers on the season compared to in the month of April offer a different story, and that story is that the slow down in his game offensively is due to a lack of comfort, aggressiveness and involvement in the team’s offense.

Williams scoring dropped to 7 points per game in the month of April, making it one of the multiple categories he saw a dip in from the previous month. He shot the ball well enough that more shots and involvement would have not only been justified but also helped the team win more games.

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The rookie forward was one of just three players to play in all 17 games the Bulls played in April. In that sense, he offered the type of consistency Chicago needed. Although in the true on-court sense the Bulls needed, Williams failed to offer the production that would have truly benefited the team.

It is likely unfair to blame him solely for the lack of offense. The coaching staff and front office need to be more involved in getting him more involved. Night after night, his skillset jumps off the screen on one or two plays before he falls out of the flow of the offense completely.

At some point, it will be justified to put this on him individually. For me, that time is yet to come. The best argument for putting it on him tends to be he was the fourth overall selection in the NBA Draft.

My point against that would be he did not choose to be selected there. He came out of Florida State University as a player the Bulls coveted and that is why they took him. Still, there is reason why many considered it a surprising pick at the time.

He wasn’t at the same point and in possession of the same mentality that some other top prospects had. The Bulls need to be working with him on developing that and taking it as their responsibility to have him involved on the offensive end of the floor.