{"id":155944,"date":"2025-08-23T09:00:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T13:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=155944"},"modified":"2025-08-22T21:11:29","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T01:11:29","slug":"bulls-impact-patrick-williams-coming-off-the-bench","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/23\/bulls-impact-patrick-williams-coming-off-the-bench\/","title":{"rendered":"The Real Impact of Patrick Williams Coming Off the Bench"},"content":{"rendered":"

After five seasons and 276 games, it\u2019s pretty clear Patrick Williams<\/a> isn\u2019t the starter Chicago Bulls hoped he\u2019d become. Since the Bulls picked him fourth overall in 2020, his struggles have been on full display, which means Chicago took a bit of a gamble selecting Williams that high. At Florida State, he averaged just 9.2 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 assist per game, and never started a single game as a freshman. He was playing behind a veteran team, which limited his minutes to about 22.5 per game; thus the impact of Patrick Williams is yet to be fully seen.<\/p>\n

The Real Impact of Patrick Williams Coming Off the Bench<\/strong><\/h2>\n

At just 19 years old, Williams was raw and still figuring things out. The pandemic only delayed his jump to the pros by a year, which didn\u2019t help in his readiness. But the Bulls bought into his athletic 6-foot-7 frame and figured it would translate to the NBA right away; at least, at first, it seemed like it might. Williams\u2019 rookie season was promising. He started all 71 games and posted solid numbers. He averaged 9.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, with impressive shooting splits: nearly 48% from the field and 39% from deep. That earned him a spot on the NBA All-Rookie Team, which felt like a bright sign.<\/p>\n

But things went downhill after that. Williams missed a large chunk of his second season, playing just 17 games. His third season looked somewhat like his first, with a slight uptick in scoring and three-point attempts. Injuries struck again in year four, limiting him to 43 games. Even with those holdups and a drop in efficacy, the Chicago Bulls paid him a $90 million contract<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That deal didn\u2019t exactly light a fire under him. Williams started off November and December scoring around 11 points a night, but January was brutal, just 8.4 points per game on poor shooting—the reason why head coach Billy Donovan<\/a> benched him on January 27. And from that point, Williams barely started again.<\/p>\n

Honestly, it made no sense for Patrick Williams to start last season, especially when the Bulls hit a rough patch early in the year. At 23, he\u2019s had plenty of opportunities to prove his value but hasn\u2019t quite lived up to expectations. So, the Bulls shifted him to the bench, essentially moving on.<\/p>\n

Struggles and Statistics: Williams\u2019 Shift to the Bench<\/strong><\/h3>\n

You\u2019d think a fresh start off the bench would help him find his footing. But the reality? Williams hasn\u2019t exactly shined as a reserve. If anything, his numbers tend to dip when he\u2019s coming off the bench. In his third season, he came off the pine 17 times and posted lower points, rebounds, and assists, even though his minutes only dropped a little. Oddly enough, his plus\/minus was better as a bench player (+8.7) compared to starting (-5.6).<\/p>\n

The following year was more of the same; he was in the starting lineup for 30 games but came off the bench in 13 others. When he started, he put up a solid 11.1 points and grabbed 4.4 rebounds on average. Off the bench<\/a>, his production slipped to 7.4 points and 2.7 rebounds. Again, his plus\/minus was better as a reserve (+6.9) than as a starter (-3.1).<\/p>\n

Last season, Williams found himself coming off the bench more often than usual, logging 27 games as a reserve, compared to 36 starts. It was a noticeable shift that seemed to say a lot about his role on the team. His overall stats and three-point shooting took a hit, dropping to a disappointing 30.5% from deep in his bench role. His plus\/minus remained better as a reserve (+0.5) compared to starting (-9.0).<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Next? The Bulls\u2019 Future with Williams<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s pretty obvious that Williams should stick to the bench. Chicago has promising young talent like 20-year-old Matas Buzelis<\/a>, defensive specialist Isaac Okoro<\/a>, and sharpshooter Kevin Huerter<\/a> all competing for minutes. Still, Williams hasn\u2019t made the leap many expected when playing against second-unit players. Neither more assertive play nor better scoring efficiency has shown up yet.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the Chicago Bulls<\/a> often seem to click better as a unit when Williams is coming off the bench rather than starting. It\u2019s a subtle but telling detail about how his presence impacts the team dynamic. Over five seasons, he\u2019s been a positive influence in a reserve role just once. Most years, the Bulls actually do better without him on the floor during starting lineups.<\/p>\n

So, while this bench role might help the Bulls overall, it hasn\u2019t been the boost Williams himself needs. Hopefully, this new chapter sparks growth, but as of now, it\u2019s a work in progress.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Nell Redmond-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After five seasons and 276 games, it\u2019s pretty clear Patrick Williams isn\u2019t the starter Chicago Bulls hoped he\u2019d become. Since the Bulls picked him fourth overall in 2020, his struggles have been on full display, which means Chicago took a bit of a gamble selecting Williams that high. At Florida State, he averaged just 9.2 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5601,"featured_media":156003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,8,62],"tags":[545,151,2842,1600,49148,3000],"class_list":["post-155944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-bulls","category-nba","tag-billy-donovan","tag-chicago-bulls","tag-isaac-okoro","tag-kevin-huerter","tag-matas-buzelis","tag-patrick-williams"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5601"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155944"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":156004,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155944\/revisions\/156004"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}