3 most detrimental absences for the Bulls in January

Detrimental Chicago Bulls absences in January: Patrick Williams

The name on this list that was out for the longest period of time now is the former Florida State Seminoles’ second-year forward Patrick Williams. A few months back, the Bulls lost Williams likely for the rest of the regular season due to a wrist injury that caused him to get surgery.

It looks like Williams could return for the Bulls during the postseason. But realistically expecting him to come back before that time could create false hope.

There are other players that the Bulls slotted in place of Williams in the starting unit that seemingly had a positive impact at that position. But there are other injury issues that the Bulls experienced among their forwards of late.

Losing Williams is a detriment that could stem beyond this season, though. This was a big season for the development of the former fourth overall pick of the Bulls in the first round of the 2020 NBA Draft. Williams showed a lot of two-way potential last season, but he often lacked the confidence and aggressiveness necessary to be a true offensive weapon.

This was supposed to be the season where we saw Williams come alive on the offensive end of the floor while remaining a defensive rock at the four for the Bulls.

It is also worth mentioning that it definitely won’t help out the Bulls in terms of forward depth in the second half of the season that fellow switchable two-way forward Derrick Jones Jr. looks to be out for at least the next month. DJJ injured his knee in the Bulls’ embarrassing loss at home to the Nets on Jan. 12.