Chicago Bulls: Fixing gaffes part of Patrick Williams’ transformation

Part of the maturation process of the Chicago Bulls second-year forward Patrick Williams will be gaining more confidence on the offensive end of the floor. And with more confidence on offense for Williams should come better rhythm and decision-making with the ball in his hands. Williams was often caught making untimely decisions that led to bad shots or unforced turnovers last season. That is something that needs to change for Williams to reach that next level offensively.

There is so much that Williams did well on both ends of the floor last season. He generally shot very efficiently from the field and from beyond the arc. Williams rebounded well and was a very solid defender at the three and the four.

But one of the biggest qualms that Bulls fans had with Williams last season was that apparent lack of confidence on offense. It didn’t correlate well last season that Williams ranked in the bottom five of usage rate for the Bulls, but in the top four in lost ball and bad pass turnovers.

In fact, among the eight players that got the most minutes for the Bulls last season, Williams was the only one that had more than 60 percent the amount of bad pass and lost ball turnovers compared to total assists.

Chicago Bulls offense can improve if Patrick Williams makes significant strides next season

The reason why I highlight that number is that so many of Williams’ turnovers last season should be very preventable as he develops heading into next season. Williams was often caught stepping on the out-of-bounds line. That was especially true when he posted up in the corner waiting for a catch-and-shoot opportunity.

That alone should be partially fixed by the fact that stadiums should return more to normal with the presence of fans actually in the seats. Players were commonly stepping out-of-bounds last season since there wasn’t any noise coming from the seats in the corners.

All in all, Williams should be able to at least start minimizing the untimely turnovers heading into next season. He doesn’t have the skill set of someone that will be an elite passer. Williams only averaged one assist per game during his one season with the Florida State Seminoles in college.

On the offensive end, Williams can become a well-rounded scorer that also helps to space the floor and rebounds well. But the ability of Williams to be an elite facilitator doesn’t have a very high likelihood of developing.

It looks like the ceiling for Williams could be some-type of his own form of Kawhi Leonard. Granted, I’m not setting the expectations so high that Williams will be the next Kawhi. He can just use the way that Kawhi molded his game to become a more efficient player with the ball in his hands early in his career.

The numbers from Kawhi’s rookie season and Williams’ actually look pretty similar. Williams averaged 9.2 points per game, 4.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.6 blocks, while shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from beyond the arc.

Meanwhile, Kawhi averaged 7.9 points per game, 5.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.4 blocks, while shooting 49.3 percent from the field and 37.6 percent from beyond the arc.

Kawhi didn’t even average two assists per game until his third season in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs. The way that Kawhi continued to develop his game was to gain more confidence and decisiveness with the ball in his hands on offense.

That helped to open up the floor for his teammates when he did try to create his own looks. Once Kawhi created his own looks, the passing lanes opened up and he was able to more frequently rack up assists each game.

If Williams can draw down the bad turnovers next season, then his on/off plus/minus should also start to trend in the right direction. He registered a rather poor -13.0 on/off plus/minus last season.

The fact that Williams was often matched up with some of the opposition’s best wings/forwards, even with a second or third unit supporting cast in the lineup with him, caused his on/off plus/minus to dip last season. An improved bench for head coach Billy Donovan is another reason that it is a good bet that Williams will improve his net rating next season.

Williams and the Bulls are set to open up Training Camp now in less than a week, specifically on Sep. 28. And then, the preseason slate opens up on Oct. 5 at home at the United Center against the Cleveland Cavaliers.