Chicago Bulls: Re-grading last offseason’s roster additions
Re-grading Chicago Bulls 2020 offseason acquisitions
Patrick Williams, F
The highlighting addition for the Bulls roster last offseason was definitely the former Florida State Seminoles freshman forward and ACC Sixth Man of the Year Patrick Williams. Karnisovas and the Bulls selected Williams fourth overall in the first round of the 2020 NBA Draft. What seemed like a bit of a reach at the time has played out well for the Bulls thus far.
And it appears that the NBA All-Rookie Second-Team selection still has a lot of growth left in his game.
During his rookie campaign, Williams averaged 9.2 points per game, 4.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.6 blocks. And he shot 48.3 percent from the field, 39.1 percent from beyond the arc, and 72.8 percent from the free-throw line.
There’s not much more to say about Williams except that he needs to get more confident and aggressive with the ball on the offensive end of the floor. He was very solid defensively this season and can parlay that into more growth on that end of the floor in his sophomore run in 2021-22.
Grade: A-
Marko Simonovic, PF/C
Technically this one wasn’t an active roster addition for the Bulls from last offseason. But the KK Mega Bemax 21-year-old big man and native of Montenegro Marko Simonovic was the 44th overall pick of Karnisovas and the Bulls in the second round of the 2020 draft. Since it appears that Simonovic’s stock has risen in the past six months or so, he’s worth including on this list.
Simonovic had a solid season playing overseas in Europe for KK Mega Bemax. Between his time playing in all leagues/cups for KK Mega Bemax during the 2020-21 season, Simonovic averaged 15 points per game, nine rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block. And he shot 48 percent from the field, 33 percent from beyond the arc, and 77 percent from the free-throw line.
Most notably, Simonovic played well in postseason and tournament competition for his team down the stretch this year. His play improved as the year moved along, so his stock should continue to rise once the Bulls are ready to bring him into the rotation.