MILWAUKEE – Less than a week ago, Patrick Williams sounded like a guy that was in as good a head space as he’s been as a Bull.
He was coming off three-straight productive games on both ends of the floor and feeling like he finally understood his role.
By Wednesday morning, that felt all gone for the forward.
The team announced that after the win in Detroit on Monday, Williams was sent back to Chicago, experiencing more pain in his surgically-repaired left foot and needing to get further testing. What that means short-term is Williams missed the Bucks game, and will also sit out the back-to-back on Friday and Saturday.
The hope is there is not another long-term issue for Williams.
The 23-year-old already missed most of the 2021-22 season with wrist surgery, and then was shut down after 43 games last year with the left foot injury. He had surgery and used the summer to heal up, but he started complaining of discomfort over the weekend.
“Obviously, he went on the injury report as questionable with the foot (Monday), and then I think in the game he mentioned that he was feeling it more at halftime, and after the game is when he really started to feel some … I don’t want to say significant pain but a lot more pain than he was feeling beforehand,” coach Billy Donovan said. “When it felt like the pain was escalating, we wanted to get the imaging done just to see what’s going on. He’s got inflammation around that area, they want to figure out why, but it’s going to be at least a week or so to let that calm down and then there’s got to be a plan going forward of how to handle it.”
In 15 games this season, Williams was averaging 9.9 points, but a career-best five rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.
“This was going to happen,” Williams said last week of his solid start. “Maybe not when you wanted it to happen, maybe when others thought it should happen. I would have liked it to happen November 2020. It’s November 2024, and this is where I’m at. I’m comfortable with that. No matter how it seems or how I sound about it, no one wants it more than I do.”
The hope is it’s just normal pain associated with the healing process and putting in a career-high 28.9 minutes per game, but the fact that there is an unknown with the inflammation is a concern.
“I think the biggest thing now is he’s got to get with a doctor and get some consultation just in terms of letting the doctor look at the imaging and see what the next steps are going to be for him,” Donovan added.
Deflated Ball
This was the extra week that Lonzo Ball was given to try and ramp up activity with the right wrist strain and try and get back to action, but Donovan admitted that it’s not happening and Ball is now getting another week.
“That will hopefully be when we start to see progress from him,” Donovan said. “I do think he’ll do more ball-handling, do more shooting, but for him to be really ramped up where we can see, it’s probably going to be (another week).”
Ball, who was on a minutes restriction because of his left knee surgery, has only played in three games this season.
Talk it out
One of the biggest issues with the Bulls defense so far this season – and there are many – is the lack of communication.
Donovan wants it fixed.
“That is a flat-out issue,” Donovan said. “Like generally when you communicate, you’re never wrong because it at least gives direction to everyone else on what to do.”