While the season ended a little earlier than what Chicago Bulls fans initially hoped for, now would present a good opportunity to evaluate some of the talent on the roster heading into the offseason. And with rookie wing Patrick Williams, his first season couldn’t have posed more obstacles.
From no Summer League, to a truncated training camp and preseason to even having his number nabbed from him post-trade deadline, it’s safe to say Williams first NBA season had some twists and turns throughout. Coupling this with the criticism hurled towards the Bulls front office before he even played a single minute, it would be easy to assume the Florida State alumni did not fare well in his rookie season. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.
As discussed previously, while Williams per game averages of 9.2 points and 4.6 rebounds don’t jump out of the page, the Bulls didn’t draft him to score immediately. Reaching and taking Williams at 4 was hinged on his ability to be consistent and provide NBA-level defense at a high level. And playing 71 out of 72 games while averaging just under a steal a game shows this. On top of this, high praise from both Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James again shows he is playing well above his years.
One of the key areas that shows P-Will’s development as a player is in his field goal percentage. From January to May, his percentage has consistently risen throughout each month, starting at 45.7 percent and ending at 52.2 percent. This is a key stat to look into as it shows he is getting more and more comfortable within the Bulls offense, something that will only look to get better the more he plays with the guys around him.
This is especially important when considering after the Bulls made the big Vucevic trade, the offense would likely have changed to accommodate the big center. So for Williams to continue to improve despite this, shows this his growing basketball IQ and willingness to be better.
Something left to be desired when it comes to Williams’s game is his aggressiveness. When observing him this season, it seems to come and go. And while this is a nature of a rookie playing with 2 other All-Stars, it would do Zach Lavine and Nikola Vucevic both a lot of good knowing they have a wing scorer who is willing to attack closeouts instead of settling for jumpers all the time.
Finishing the season with a usage of 14.6 percent is by no means bad, this number then fell to 13.7 percent post-All-Star break (around the same Vucevic was traded), and shows that at times he has a tendency to wait behind the line and settle for threes.
Patrick Williams’ Player Grade for the Chicago Bulls: B+
While by no means a perfect rookie campaign by Williams, there is no doubt that he delivered on everything expected by him. Great hustle and defensive pressure were more than welcome to a team that desperately needed some.
His jumper looks a lot better than initially expected, and he has shown flashes of a nice-looking mid-range pull-up. If Williams is able to develop some more aggressiveness while continuing to shoot around 39 percent from 3, he could end up on both an All NBA team and All-Defensive team in his prime.