NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Bulls locked up one of their highest-upside young talents late Saturday night.
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the Chicago Bulls have signed Patrick Williams to a five-year $90 million deal. The fourth-year forward was headed toward restricted free agency after the organization failed to reach a rookie scale extension last summer.
Patrick Williams is Sticking Around
Arutras Karnisovas selected Patrick Williams No. 4 overall in the 2020 NBA Draft. He was the current front office regime’s first draft pick. Unfortunately, he struggled to come into his own over the first handful of years, as the Chicago Bulls continued to prioritize winning. Nevertheless, he showed a lot of promise from behind the arc (shooting 41.0 percent over his career) and on the defensive end. Williams can guard multiple positions, and he’s still only 22 years old.
Considering the Bulls traded for 21-year-old Josh Giddey and drafted 19-year-old Matas Buzelis over the last couple of weeks, keeping Williams around makes that much more sense. The Bulls have clearly prioritized youth heading into this offseason, and Williams remains one of their most intriguing young talents.
Is it possible that an 18.0 million AAV ends up feeling too high for Williams? Sure, especially considering he just suffered a foot injury that held him to just 43 games over this past season. But he’s still a very promising 3-and-D wing that has the kind of skill to impact winning basketball. For a Bulls team desperate to build for the future, keeping Williams in town felt like a necessity. Both the Oklahoma City Thunder and Charlotte Hornets were named as teams interested in making a run at him if he reached restricted free agency.
Williams could see his workload increase significantly this season. The Bulls’ recent activity suggests that they will treat the 2024-25 campaign as a development season. Williams will likely be a significant part of that, as his two-way potential is potentially the highest on the roster.
We’ll digest this more moving forward, but this felt like one of the biggest boxes to check before Sunday’s night’s free agency. We’ll now wait and see what else the Bulls have in store.
