Getty Patrick Williams is defended by Derrick Rose during a game between the Chicago Bulls and the New York Knicks.
It has been 130 long days as of this writing since the Chicago Bulls‘ once-promising 2021-22 campaign reached its conclusion in Round 1 at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks. We still have multiple weeks to go until the 2022-23 campaign tips off, too.
That said, the light at the end of the tunnel is finally creeping into view.
With the turn of the calendar from August to September, open gym and training camp are suddenly on the horizon. And while everyone from DeMar DeRozan on down the roster has been balling out in pro runs, Bulls players are about to descend upon the Windy City once more.
Per the Chicago Sun-Times‘ Joe Cowley, former No. 4 overall pick Patrick Williams and others will be back in town in a matter of days to gear up their prep for the upcoming season.
“Williams, like many of his Bulls teammates, will start migrating back to Chicago after Labor Day for voluntary scrimmages and runs, according to a source,” Cowley wrote.
Spotlight on the Youngster
Although the Bulls as a whole are feeling the pressure to improve upon their performance last season after finally ending the playoff drought, Williams is arguably the player being asked to make the biggest jump.
Bulls decision-maker Arturas Karnisovas believes that the Florida State product has everything he needs to make it happen, it’s just a matter of reps.
“With him, when somebody’s asking what he needs to improve, I think his skill set is pretty complete; what he can do athletically not a lot of players can do in our league. I just think the biggest thing for him is experience and confidence… He’s committed. So we’ll see what happens.”
Zach LaVine, meanwhile, says that Williams has been taking the right steps to come back better than ever next season. But he also made it clear that the 21-year-old isn’t the only one who needs to elevate their game.
“Pat’s great, Pat’s going to continue to work on his game and get better and better. He’s been to California, he’s been in Chicago. Pat’s working on his game, but everybody on the team needs to take a step, from the best guy on the team to the 12th man, you need to take a step and upgrade your game. I think that’s how teams get better.”
Last Season
The Bulls had high hopes for Williams heading into ’21-22, but the 6-foot-7 forward fell prey to a wrist injury just five games into the campaign. As a result, he underwent surgery and missed nearly five months of action.
By season’s end, though, he had somehow managed — over just 17 regular season games and five playoff bouts — to raise fans’ expectations of him for ’22-23.
Williams went for double figures in five of Chicago’s last six regular-season games, dropping a 35-point bomb during the team’s finale win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. From there, he had two 20-point games and averaged 11.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.0 steals with an effective field-goal percentage of 54.3 against Milwaukee.
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