The Chicago Bulls have taken plenty of heat for their confusing offseason.
We don’t need to rehash it ad nauseam but the Bulls didn’t maximize their best trade assets and are still stuck with lingering Zach LaVine drama and a roster with no clear direction.
They’ve taken their shots from the national media, most recently from John Hollinger of The Athletic (subscription) who included another Bulls’ offseason mistake in an article about under scrutinized bad deals.
He is speaking of the Bulls signing Patrick Williams to a lucrative 5-year deal, a contract that has been scrutinized plenty on this site.
Williams did little to earn a $90 million deal, especially one with an inexplicable player option at the end of it. He hasn’t improved in four seasons and there wasn’t a single team in the league that was going to offer that much, and if there was, the Bulls should have let them and walked away.
The Detroit Pistons, a team not exactly known for it's shewd moves of late, signed Isaiah Stewart to a deal worth nearly $30 million less than Williams' with no 5th year or player option, which looks like a steal in comparison.
Chicago was in a position to play hardball, but instead bet big that Williams will finally improve, stay healthy and that deal will look like a bargain for a quality 2-way wing.
It’s a $90 million gamble based on hope, but it didn’t just cost the Bulls cap space and a roster spot.
The Patrick Williams contract hampered the Bulls in trades
The Bulls were lambasted for their eventual sign-and-trade of DeMar DeRozan, as they got the worst return on the 3-team trade even though they had the best player.
The Bulls ended up with expiring contracts and two second-round picks, while the Spurs were graded as the big winner, walking away with Harrison Barnes and a 2031 unprotected pick swap from Sacramento, the package the Bulls could have had if they didn’t sign Patrick Williams according to Hollinger:
“Re-signing Williams wasn’t just a paper cost, either; Chicago could have been gifted Harrison Barnes and a free pick swap with Sacramento in the DeMar DeRozan deal if it hadn’t re-signed Williams. (With Williams on the books, adding Barnes would have put the Bulls deep into the luxury tax; despite playing in the league’s third-largest market, this line is basically an electrified fence for Chicago’s ownership.)”
Harrison Barnes is a better player than Williams, and if the Bulls are seriously interested about making the playoffs, he would have helped that effort.
He’s also on the same money as Williams for the next two seasons, so would potentially be a trade asset as an expiring contract and money that could be used in a big trade.
Then there is the pick swap. You have to hand it to San Antonio, as they were able to bilk the Kings out of a second asset just to bail them out of the financial challenges of taking on DeMar DeRozan.
Who knows where the Kings will be in 2031, but it’s safe to bet they won’t be good and the swap is unprotected. The Kings could be bottom feeders by then, with the Spurs ending up with a valuable lottery pick just for taking on two years of Barnes.
The Bulls are desperate for draft assets and missed an opportunity to grab a valuable one.
The Bulls bet on Patrick Williams instead, which hampered them on the trade market in ways that will come back to haunt them if he never fulfills his potential.