The return of Patrick Williams will undoubtedly help.
That’s not even a question for the Bulls.
But it’s not like Williams was a game-changer before a left foot injury sidelined him, either. They went 4-6 with Williams sidelined – status quo for a team that’s played .400 basketball all season long. The defense was shaky with Williams and shaky without him. And it’s not like they missed Williams’ scoring, especially since he was under 10 points per game.
Where his absence was most felt was positionally.
The 6-foot-8 Williams is built more like a tight end than a lanky wide receiver, so saw defensive assignments not only against the opposition’s bigger wings, but also played some five at times.
“I think the thing we’re struggling with right now is defense obviously, but with four guards we’re a little small right now,” guard Zach LaVine said of life without Williams. “Some games Zo (Lonzo Ball) will come in and play the four or I’ll play the four and it’s like, ‘OK, we’ve got to get a stop or outscore them.’ One of the two.”
That changes against the Hornets on Friday, as Williams made it through a week of practicing and scrimmages with no setbacks to the foot. He will be on a minutes restriction of 20-24 minutes, but the hope is that he will have plenty of time to recover with the Bulls playing only three games over the next eight days.
Where it gets interesting is what coach Billy Donovan does with rookie Matas Buzelis?
The 11th overall pick from the 2024 draft has used Williams’ time off to announce his presence and has done so with some flash.
It’s not just the dunks that Buzelis has been showcasing since back in Summer League, but his all-around improvement and development.
In the last four games alone Buzelis has watched his minutes go to 20.3 per game, his scoring average jump to 11 – yes, better than Williams’ – and has 1.3 blocks per game. Throw in shooting 48.4% from the field and 50% from three-point range on four shots from beyond the arc per game, and there’s something brewing with Buzelis. Something good.
The sample size for December is small, but Buzelis is the sixth-best scoring rookie in the month so far, trailing Jared McCain, Stephon Castle, Cam Spencer, Yves Missi and Carlton Carrington. He’s eighth in rookie rebounding, and an impressive second in blocked shots to only Washington’s Alexandre Sarr.
That’s why it will be important for Donovan to keep the momentum moving forward for the 20-year-old.
Williams represents the now, but Buzelis is tomorrow, and for a 10-15 team looking to move its more talented veteran assets by the Feb. 6 trade deadline, tomorrow should be the focus.
While Buzelis proved to be one of the “it” rookies in Vegas back in July, there were questions about how his game would translate when it wasn’t against a bunch of Summer Leaguers. And honestly in October, well, it didn’t look like a smooth transition.
Donovan, who comes from the school of rookie minutes are earned and not “handed out like candy,” was only playing Buzelis just under six minutes per game out of the gate in October. It jumped up to 12.9 minutes per game in November, but that was also later in that month because of the Williams injury.
In that time, however, even Donovan admitted that Buzelis is learning on the fly, making mistakes along the way, but learning from those mistakes rather than dwelling on them. One of Donovan’s favorite traits shown by Buzelis.
So yes, Williams is back.
But Buzelis has never left. That has staying power.