Absolutely unfortunate news surfaced on the afternoon of Oct. 29 for the Chicago Bulls and second-year forward Patrick Williams following a one-point loss to the New York Knicks at home on the previous night. A report from ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski on Twitter on Oct. 29 indicates that Williams could be out for the rest of the regular season with a wrist injury he suffered against the Knicks.
Williams is reportedly set to undergo surgery on his left wrist after dislocating it on Oct. 28.
The play that Williams injured himself came when he fell awkwardly after getting caught in the air with Knicks center Mitchell Robinson. Williams was trying to get to the rim and dunk, and Robinson met him there. He would fall on his left wrist, which looked to be problematic pretty immediately.
Chicago Bulls forward Patrick Williams is expected to miss the rest of the regular season with a left wrist dislocation, source tells ESPN. He will undergo surgery soon.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 29, 2021
But we didn’t know the severity of this injury to Williams when it first happened. Whether you consider the play controversial on Robinson’s part doesn’t really matter now. The Bulls need to find a way to make up for the loss of a very important two-way wing/forward in Williams.
Chicago Bulls have to figure out what to do after the Patrick Williams injury
This is a major setback for both Williams and the Bulls. It looked like the efficiency of Williams was picking up, and the importance he brings to this starting five on the defensive end of the floor is hard to state.
Although Williams averaged just around seven points per game, two rebounds, one assist, 0.5 steals, and 0.5 blocks, through the first three and a half games of the season or so, he takes a lot of the more difficult defensive matchups. The way that Williams can play solid on-ball and help defense while remaining a threat as a floor spacer, is something that will be difficult to replace for second-year head coach Billy Donovan.
There are some other options that the Bulls have to turn to plug-and-play in the immediate future in the absence of Williams, but it won’t be easy to find a solution at this point. We are likely to see shooting guard/small forward Troy Brown Jr., small forward Derrick Jones Jr., and/or power forward Alize Johnson, get more minutes in his absence.
It will also be interesting to see if the Bulls turn to the likes of forward Tyler Cook, who is on a two-way contract, in the absence of Williams too. Cook was impressive down the stretch last season with the Detroit Pistons, and this looks to be an opportunity where he could get a chance with the Bulls in the NBA deeper down the bench.
Following the loss to the Knicks at home at the United Center on the night of Oct. 28, the Bulls are sporting a record of 4-1. Next up for the Bulls after figuring out this injury news for Williams is a meeting at home at the United Center with the Utah Jazz on Oct. 30.