The Chicago Bulls select forward Patrick Williams #4 overall.

[MrSparkle]

There is no way in hell that PW collects DNPs this season. Maybe a few in month one. Sure, a slow start off the deep bench is expected with the short camp... but the only way he gets buried is if Lauri, Thad, and Otto play like fringe all-stars, and Hutch comes in playing out his mind. And even then, I see PW playing at least 10 mpg as a defensive specialist, cause there is no reason you wouldn't want a high-energy, athletic defender to bring some energy.

[TheJordanRule]

Folks, just remember that he's a 19 year old kid. This is a massive change to his world. Be patient. We all want him to get going and impact the team ASAP, but we need to temper our immediate expectations on a 19 year old kid who didn't even go through an entire season of college hoops. Its going to take some time.

Big ups to BigUps for making this point. I'm thrilled that we drafted PW, but I think it's important to have realistic expectations for what he's going to do in his rookie year. PW is rawer than Coby was last season. PW is a stud prospect, but he's also a project, in the sense that LeMelo is a project. An optimistic outlook for PW, who is a teenager, would be a Coby-like performance in which PW struggles for much of the year, flashing potential here and there, and ultimately demonstrates growth at our season's end after a very up and down season peppered with DNPs and limited minutes.

[Mbrahv0528]

There is no way in hell that PW collects DNPs this season. Maybe a few in month one. Sure, a slow start off the deep bench is expected with the short camp... but the only way he gets buried is if Lauri, Thad, and Otto play like fringe all-stars, and Hutch comes in playing out his mind. And even then, I see PW playing at least 10 mpg as a defensive specialist, cause there is no reason you wouldn't want a high-energy, athletic defender to bring some energy.

Exactly. That just a stupid take. We have no reason to not let PW and any other young pieces (Coby) play every night...

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[Chi town]

There is no way in hell that PW collects DNPs this season. Maybe a few in month one. Sure, a slow start off the deep bench is expected with the short camp... but the only way he gets buried is if Lauri, Thad, and Otto play like fringe all-stars, and Hutch comes in playing out his mind. And even then, I see PW playing at least 10 mpg as a defensive specialist, cause there is no reason you wouldn't want a high-energy, athletic defender to bring some energy.

Exactly. That just a stupid take. We have no reason to not let PW and any other young pieces (Coby) play every night...

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Nobody is saying redshirt. Most are thinking slow start. OPJ will need time to prove health to get traded. Thad wants Mins and complained last season about it. He will be playing. A healthy Hutch will play.

I think PW will play but not much until after the trade deadline. Amp his Mins then and let him earn more Mins if he can before then.

I expect him to make more of an impact than Coby in his Mins due to defense. He will struggle but will figure it out and I think he will be more than happy by seasons end.

[MrFortune3]

Something to consider. Yet Ron Artest was thicker. And if Lu was quick enough, Pat can do it because he’s more nimble than Lu imo.

I don't think Pwill will have any issues guarding 3's in the NBA.

I too don't think he will have issues guarding 3s, and maybe even some slower-footed 2s. The paul georges, jimmy butlers, brandon ingrams etc.. he will be fine. He might have issues chasing a healthy Klay Thompson and Devon Booker around or speedy guards like Dame and Ja and im fine with that. Maybe we can find a way to get Lonzo ball in here for that.

I agree. He's likely not taking Dame or Ja 1 on 1 on defense but he should be fine with the rest.

[MrFortune3]

I don't think Pwill will have any issues guarding 3's in the NBA.

I hope he can, but he struggled when matched up 1:1 with wings in college. He was a great help defender, but he isn't a great lateral quickness guy and great man defender on wings IMO. We'll see what happens though, he's had 8 months to transform himself (physically / skills / whatever) and I am excited to see what he can do.

I think a lot of that was him still growing into his body and being a young player coming off the bench.
He'll get better.

[TheFinishSniper]

There is no way in hell that PW collects DNPs this season. Maybe a few in month one. Sure, a slow start off the deep bench is expected with the short camp... but the only way he gets buried is if Lauri, Thad, and Otto play like fringe all-stars, and Hutch comes in playing out his mind. And even then, I see PW playing at least 10 mpg as a defensive specialist, cause there is no reason you wouldn't want a high-energy, athletic defender to bring some energy.

Exactly. That just a stupid take. We have no reason to not let PW and any other young pieces (Coby) play every night...

Sent from my SM-F707U using RealGM mobile app

Nobody is saying redshirt. Most are thinking slow start. OPJ will need time to prove health to get traded. Thad wants Mins and complained last season about it. He will be playing. A healthy Hutch will play.

I think PW will play but not much until after the trade deadline. Amp his Mins then and let him earn more Mins if he can before then.

I expect him to make more of an impact than Coby in his Mins due to defense. He will struggle but will figure it out and I think he will be more than happy by seasons end.

I think he should play all minutes he can wherever it is on the floor. Not only on SF and be replacement for Otto for example. But also play PG, SG, SF, PF and even C if teams play with no big. I dont mind it. Really. I am saying he does not need to play just certain style of basketball in mold of some player. I mean NBA become switch everything (on defense), PnR everything (on offense) and shoot 3's . I think its time we throw away prejudices who is who on NBA floor. Either you can play basketball or you cant. I think he will learn be best basketball player exactly this way. Eventually he will find where he is best (position wise), match up with who (type of players he can guard and those he can take advantage of) and be productive.

As far as I know PW is exactly type of player who isnt good at anything but also isnt bad at everything. Maybe we can mold him to be all around player and not put in some kind of box in what we think he should be. For example that he needs to start as corner 3 and play defense type of player and then build it from there. This team also is not nowhere near good enough where he shouldnt be playing big minutes unless he doesnt even know how to play basketball. I mean for god sake we won 22,22 and 27 games in last 3 years....

[MrFortune3]

There is no way in hell that PW collects DNPs this season. Maybe a few in month one. Sure, a slow start off the deep bench is expected with the short camp... but the only way he gets buried is if Lauri, Thad, and Otto play like fringe all-stars, and Hutch comes in playing out his mind. And even then, I see PW playing at least 10 mpg as a defensive specialist, cause there is no reason you wouldn't want a high-energy, athletic defender to bring some energy.

Exactly. That just a stupid take. We have no reason to not let PW and any other young pieces (Coby) play every night...

Sent from my SM-F707U using RealGM mobile app

Pwill is going to play sparingly early on to allow him to get acclimated to the NBA. The accelerated start to the season(or rather getting the league back on a more normal schedule)and no summer league is going to put rawer rookies on teams with vets and with cultural changes on the backburner early on.

The Bulls have a starter in OPJ so they don't have to rush Pwill into the lineup. Donovan is going to play him but he's also going to throw him in at a slower pace to ensure he puts him in a position to succeed.

[fleet]

I don't think Pwill will have any issues guarding 3's in the NBA.

I hope he can, but he struggled when matched up 1:1 with wings in college. He was a great help defender, but he isn't a great lateral quickness guy and great man defender on wings IMO. We'll see what happens though, he's had 8 months to transform himself (physically / skills / whatever) and I am excited to see what he can do.

I think a lot of that was him still growing into his body and being a young player coming off the bench.
He'll get better.

I don’t know if the typical freshman fades toward the end, I had read they do, but Pat was increasing his numbers in all the columns his last 10 games. The tournament season would have been interesting.

[fleet]

Just pointing out that Pat only joined twitter last month and has 9 tweets. This kid was raised right, and Billy made sure to point out his parents.

Read on Twitter

Here is the beginning of thel AT&T piece with Taurasi which I haden't seen

Read on Twitter

[TheFinishSniper]

It's possible he made twitter (social media) due his contract deal with NBA team or sponsorship or future sponsorship. Either way I want to say probably obligated to promote himself as part of franchise and possibly his brand.

[MrFortune3]

I hope he can, but he struggled when matched up 1:1 with wings in college. He was a great help defender, but he isn't a great lateral quickness guy and great man defender on wings IMO. We'll see what happens though, he's had 8 months to transform himself (physically / skills / whatever) and I am excited to see what he can do.

I think a lot of that was him still growing into his body and being a young player coming off the bench.
He'll get better.

I don’t know if the typical freshman fades toward the end, I had read they do, but Pat was increasing his numbers in all the columns his last 10 games. The tournament season would have been interesting.

People tend to underestimate the amount of wear and tear freshman go through from the transition from HS to college and then playing pre-season tourney's, early season adjustments and then going into the conference tournaments. That's a lot of minutes. Kids may be used to playing AAU ball, HS and etc but every level is a new adjustment in competition.

[Indomitable]

Work to help loosen his hips and help with lateral movement.

Watch on YouTube

[CjayC]

I can see why the Bulls fell in love with him. Every other word out of his mouth is "work"

Watch on YouTube

[dougthonus]

I don't think Pwill will have any issues guarding 3's in the NBA.

I hope he can, but he struggled when matched up 1:1 with wings in college. He was a great help defender, but he isn't a great lateral quickness guy and great man defender on wings IMO. We'll see what happens though, he's had 8 months to transform himself (physically / skills / whatever) and I am excited to see what he can do.

I think a lot of that was him still growing into his body and being a young player coming off the bench.
He'll get better.

In this instance, I'm not sure it is a matter of getting better. It is a matter of body type. I'm not sure that he's laterally quick enough to guard threes. From what I can see in college, he is not. I hope that proves to not be true in the NBA. I've said lots of times though, these guys have had 8 months to work on their bodies and change things to fit in the NBA, part of the reason he rose up so high on draft boards was what he's done in that period we haven't seen.

I'm excited to see what Williams can do, I have an opinion based on what I saw in college, but I'll acknowledge that I'm no expert in translating college to the pros and what he can do now may be a whole lot different than what he could do then anyway.

[ZOMG]

I hope he can, but he struggled when matched up 1:1 with wings in college. He was a great help defender, but he isn't a great lateral quickness guy and great man defender on wings IMO. We'll see what happens though, he's had 8 months to transform himself (physically / skills / whatever) and I am excited to see what he can do.

I think a lot of that was him still growing into his body and being a young player coming off the bench.
He'll get better.

In this instance, I'm not sure it is a matter of getting better. It is a matter of body type. I'm not sure that he's laterally quick enough to guard threes. From what I can see in college, he is not. I hope that proves to not be true in the NBA. I've said lots of times though, these guys have had 8 months to work on their bodies and change things to fit in the NBA, part of the reason he rose up so high on draft boards was what he's done in that period we haven't seen.

I'm excited to see what Williams can do, I have an opinion based on what I saw in college, but I'll acknowledge that I'm no expert in translating college to the pros and what he can do now may be a whole lot different than what he could do then anyway.

Here's a great pic of Williams trying to guard laterally on the perimeter:



That's how he looked in college as well. Having to resort to these side sprints, can't get low and move laterally. IMO, as he is now, he's gonna be a disaster trying to guard NBA 3's on the perimeter. It all ties into him not getting a lot of PT this season. He needs work.

[MGB8]

I think a lot of that was him still growing into his body and being a young player coming off the bench.
He'll get better.

In this instance, I'm not sure it is a matter of getting better. It is a matter of body type. I'm not sure that he's laterally quick enough to guard threes. From what I can see in college, he is not. I hope that proves to not be true in the NBA. I've said lots of times though, these guys have had 8 months to work on their bodies and change things to fit in the NBA, part of the reason he rose up so high on draft boards was what he's done in that period we haven't seen.

I'm excited to see what Williams can do, I have an opinion based on what I saw in college, but I'll acknowledge that I'm no expert in translating college to the pros and what he can do now may be a whole lot different than what he could do then anyway.

Here's a great pic of Williams trying to guard laterally on the perimeter:



That's how he looked in college as well. Having to resort to these side sprints, can't get low and move laterally. IMO, as he is now, he's gonna be a disaster trying to guard NBA 3's on the perimeter. It all ties into him not getting a lot of PT this season. He needs work.

I agree that he needs work, but a still frame doesn't really capture what's going on there. From the pic, he's on the wrong foot to begin with - and he looks a bit leaned forward - trying to close too much of the gap himself rather than letting the offensive player get into him. But a video would show a lot more context - it could be that he went for (and maybe even got) a steal on that play - look at his hand placement basically at the opponents belly-button.

[sco]

Exactly. That just a stupid take. We have no reason to not let PW and any other young pieces (Coby) play every night...

Sent from my SM-F707U using RealGM mobile app

Nobody is saying redshirt. Most are thinking slow start. OPJ will need time to prove health to get traded. Thad wants Mins and complained last season about it. He will be playing. A healthy Hutch will play.

I think PW will play but not much until after the trade deadline. Amp his Mins then and let him earn more Mins if he can before then.

I expect him to make more of an impact than Coby in his Mins due to defense. He will struggle but will figure it out and I think he will be more than happy by seasons end.

I think he should play all minutes he can wherever it is on the floor. Not only on SF and be replacement for Otto for example. But also play PG, SG, SF, PF and even C if teams play with no big. I dont mind it. Really. I am saying he does not need to play just certain style of basketball in mold of some player. I mean NBA become switch everything (on defense), PnR everything (on offense) and shoot 3's . I think its time we throw away prejudices who is who on NBA floor. Either you can play basketball or you cant. I think he will learn be best basketball player exactly this way. Eventually he will find where he is best (position wise), match up with who (type of players he can guard and those he can take advantage of) and be productive.

As far as I know PW is exactly type of player who isnt good at anything but also isnt bad at everything. Maybe we can mold him to be all around player and not put in some kind of box in what we think he should be. For example that he needs to start as corner 3 and play defense type of player and then build it from there. This team also is not nowhere near good enough where he shouldnt be playing big minutes unless he doesnt even know how to play basketball. I mean for god sake we won 22,22 and 27 games in last 3 years....

I know everybody is talking about his versatility, but I am against rookies playing more than one position their rookie year. Despite the marketing spin on positionless basketball, each position has slightly different responsibilities (especially on defense), and I think the struggle for rookies is needing to think about where to be on both ends of the court (which adds to reaction time and makes guys play worse as a result) and when you add complexity to that, it slows that learning curve. I am a big fan of giving rooks a defined (small) role and build on that as they demonstrate competence along the learning curve. That's actually why I didn't mind Coby starting off the bench in a scoring role.

[MGB8]

Work to help loosen his hips and help with lateral movement.

Watch on YouTube

Looks a lot better than the LaMelo "workout" videos.

One great thing about the crossfit craze (I'm guitly) - it's done wonders for getting folks who at one point in their lives focused on muscle groups and just really power in very specific movements to focus instead on mobility and core strength.

No matter what kind of functional athleticism you are trying to work on, everything starts with core strength and mobility.

[MGB8]

I hope he can, but he struggled when matched up 1:1 with wings in college. He was a great help defender, but he isn't a great lateral quickness guy and great man defender on wings IMO. We'll see what happens though, he's had 8 months to transform himself (physically / skills / whatever) and I am excited to see what he can do.

I think a lot of that was him still growing into his body and being a young player coming off the bench.
He'll get better.

In this instance, I'm not sure it is a matter of getting better. It is a matter of body type. I'm not sure that he's laterally quick enough to guard threes. From what I can see in college, he is not. I hope that proves to not be true in the NBA. I've said lots of times though, these guys have had 8 months to work on their bodies and change things to fit in the NBA, part of the reason he rose up so high on draft boards was what he's done in that period we haven't seen.

I'm excited to see what Williams can do, I have an opinion based on what I saw in college, but I'll acknowledge that I'm no expert in translating college to the pros and what he can do now may be a whole lot different than what he could do then anyway.

I'm actually less concerned about his speed and quickness defensively than I am offensively.

On defense, Lu was fast enough to guard wings. Honestly, Taj was fast enough to guard most wings even though he played the 4. Team defensive scheme goes a long way.

The only guys who can really break the ability of guys who are disciplined in their body positioning and team defense responsibilities, even while being a bit slower and less athletic, are guys who credibly shoot not just from 3, but from several steps back.

But on offense, if you don't have the ability to make quick changes of direction, you are kind of useless from the perimeter except as a catch and shoot guy or a bail-out-pass target.