Getty Arturas Karnisovas, Bulls
While there has been some debate around the Bulls concerning what to do with second-year forward Patrick Williams, who has been out since October 28 with torn ligaments in his left wrist—he had surgery to repair the injury—the most likely scenario is that Chicago’s brass will hold steady and wait for Williams’ return. And team president Arturas Karnisovas at least held out the possibility that his return could come sooner rather than later.
In what has been an otherwise magnificent season for the Bulls, who sit atop the Eastern Conference and have the fourth-best record in the NBA, the absence of Williams has left a glaring hole at the power forward spot. The Bulls have mostly gone small, using wing DeMar DeRozan as the power forward.
That’s left Chicago with a choice on what to do as the league’s trade deadline approaches. Should the Bulls give up assets to find a replacement for Williams? Given the opportunity that this team seems to have in the Eastern Conference, should the Bulls even go so far as to trade away Williams to bring in immediate help?
But in a radio interview with 680 AM in Chicago (via NBC Sports Chicago) Karnisovas did not rule out the idea Williams could return this season.
Patrick Williams is coming back slow, his status is TBD no pressure or timeline on him, but it would be GREAT to have Patrick back by seasons end says #Bulls VP Arturas Karnisovas
“Patrick is coming back slowly, the schedule is to be determined,” Karnišovas said. “We’re not going to put any pressure for him to come back. We’re just going to go from week to week, we’ll see how he improves. We’ll see in terms of a date. I don’t want to put any timeline on it, but it would be great to have Patrick back by end of season.”
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This was expected to be a big season for Williams’ development, but he’s appeared in only five games. He was averaging 6.6 points and 2.2 rebounds this season, relatively disappointing numbers after his mostly uneven rookie year.
If Williams can return and give the Bulls quality minutes, especially on the defensive end, it will lessen the need for the team to pursue a trade in the coming weeks. Chicago has been linked to several big men around the league, including Marvin Bagley and Harrison Barnes of the Kings, Jerami Grant of the Pistons, Christian Wood of the Rockets and the duo of Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner in Indiana.
But there is a wide range of potential return dates for Williams, who was originally slated to be out for four-to-six months. That could have him on the floor by the end of February—or by the end of April, when the regular season is over.
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Karnisovas’s declaration about Williams did not sound overly optimistic, and the idea of going week-to-week means the team can’t have any real sense about whether he will return. But the fact that it is not being ruled out could bode well for a Bulls team that will likely need a personnel boost in the second half of the season.
That’s because the Bulls have three players—Lonzo Ball, Zach LaVine and DeRozan—ranked in the Top-25 in minutes played, with each averaging more than 35 per game. Center Nikola Vucevic is averaging 33.3 minutes, third-most of his career.
That is a lot of wear-and-tear. Getting a starting-caliber player like Williams back would go a long way toward taking off some pressure on that Bulls quartet.