SAN FRANCISCO – Billy Donovan will always do right by his players publicly.
So when the Bulls coach was asked on Tuesday if he believed forward Patrick Williams has had a disappointing season, he wasn’t about to go against his nature and roll the bus over the sixth-year player.
“I really felt that before he got the quad strain (in late February) I thought he was playing pretty well,” Donovan said. “For him and thinking about the whole entire year, there’s been a lot these guys have gone through like before the trade deadline you had seven guys out at one time. I do think it’s been hard for our guys to get into a rhythm and flow with one another. I’m not making excuses for Patrick, but our team, the first 50 games we had guys in and out.”
Fair enough of Williams was in Year 3, but he currently sits as the longest tenured Bull, and while they called teams since last summer, actively looking to move him, no one is about to jump on the five-year, $90-million deal the front office signed Williams to in June 2024.
It’s an immovable contract.
“Going back to Patrick, that’s what we’re fighting for with him,” Donovan continued. “Like he’s turned out to be a really good catch-and-shoot three-point shooter, but one of the things he was getting himself into trouble was putting it down on the floor, traffic, turnovers. For him it’s just a consistency part. He’s shown more consistent signs this year than he has in the past, but I still feel like there’s more there for him. I believe that.”
In Donovan’s defense, and there’s not a lot, Williams did score in double figures four times in February before the quad sidelined him. He also had a 10-rebound game, which he should be totaling more frequently.
The issue with Williams remains a lack of urgency, and really on both sides of the ball. The other concern is he’s suddenly gone from a guy that seemed to have a lot of freak injuries to a guy that is injury prone.
He was out against the Warriors with a tweaked ankle after he tried to push through it against the Kings on Sunday. In that loss he scored just five points, grabbed one rebound and had three turnovers.
“I didn’t think he was moving well and talked to him (at the morning shootaround) and I just think with him being out with the quad strain and now dealing with the ankle, it was just better off he tries to get himself whole before he comes back,” Donovan said.
Young Bull
Collin Sexton (leg contusion) still wasn’t recovered from an injury suffered late in the Kings loss, although he was getting close.
The Bulls have an off day on Wednesday and then play a back-to-back against the two Los Angeles teams. The hope is he can play in at least one of them, and with good reason. Sexton has carried the Bulls offense in the first four games in March, averaging 25 points per game, including a 30-point game in the win over the Suns on Thursday.
A ways off
The other scoring guard the Bulls acquired at the trade deadline doesn’t have as good a prognosis. Anfernee Simons has been dealing with a small fracture in his left wrist and he’s still unable to do key basketball movements in order to return, according to Donovan.
The veteran was getting shots up at shootaround but catching and dribbling the ball are still an issue. He was scheduled to see a hand specialist again after the road trip and his immediate future could be determined.
