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Bulls forward Patrick Williams has one goal for the rest of the season: to stay on the court.<\/p>\n
Staying healthy has eluded Williams for much of his career. Injuries have stunted his development. After appearing in 71 games his rookie season, Williams has played more than 50 games only once. He returned Monday against the Pacers from a right knee injury that sidelined him for a month.<\/p>\n
Williams is frustrated with the extended absences. There\u2019s a burden that comes with being a high lottery pick \u2014 No. 4 overall in the 2020 NBA Draft. There are also heightened expectations after the Bulls gave him a five-year, $90 million extension.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust glad to be out there after missing so much time,\u201d said Williams, who had 10 points in the Bulls\u2019 116-110 victory Thursday against the Nets. \u201cTo me, it felt like six months, and obviously being out for a long time before, I never want to have to go through that again. Anytime I\u2019m sitting out, not able to play, [it] just kills me because I\u2019ve dealt with that a lot over the last five years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams said the training staff was helpful in speeding up his recovery process. He wanted to return and get more game reps, especially with the Bulls making a push for the Play-In Tournament. He acknowledged trying to get the rhythm and feel back.<\/p>\n
His fifth season has been disjointed. Injuries derailed him, his inconsistent production got him benched from the starting lineup and questions about his lack of aggressiveness hung over his head. Despite the setbacks, Williams is still a part of the Bulls\u2019 future. That contract is proof.<\/p>\n
The Bulls have a five-game lead over the Raptors for the last play-in spot in the East. Despite fans\u2019 angst over the rudderless direction of the franchise, the reality is the Bulls likely are heading toward that play-in appearance.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s important for the long-term health of the franchise for Williams to finish the season healthy because he has spent more summers rehabbing than working on his game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sign of any really good player is a player that makes everyone else around them better,\u201d coach Billy Donovan said. \u2018\u2018And I always look at it like that. Does he make the group better? There\u2019s a lot of things that you know he can do to impact that. It\u2019s not necessarily always just going out there and scoring, but it\u2019s the defense, it\u2019s the rebounding, it\u2019s playing how we\u2019re trying to play identity-wise.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NBA is a wing-dominated league. Long, rangy wings give teams defensive flexibility. The problem with the Bulls is Williams and rookie Matas Buzelis have played only 182 minutes together entering the game against the Nets.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a defensive standpoint, whether I\u2019m at the three, he\u2019s at the four, or vice versa, it gives us a different weapon, being able to switch one through four, one through five deep in the playoffs,\u201d Williams said. \u201cIt\u2019s always helpful when you have on-ball defenders. It\u2019s good to have length, but also back-side defenders, weak-side defenders to get in passing lanes.\u201d<\/p>\n
And whatever phase is next for this franchise, Williams likely will have a large role.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cThe sign of any really good player is a player that makes everyone else around them better,\u201d coach Billy Donovan said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":42827,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\n