Over the last month, Patrick Williams has been asked several times about the proverbial “rookie wall.’’
The 19-year-old Bulls forward has been very consistent in his reply, swearing that he hasn’t hit it.
Maybe he actually feels that way, but if he didn’t hit it, it definitely seems to have hit him.
The starter has basically been a non-factor on the offensive end the last three games — all losses — but he’s been trending this direction the entire month.
After averaging 9.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per game in March, since the calendar flipped into April, Williams has 6.6 points and just 3.1 rebounds per game. That included just six total points scored to conclude the road trip in Atlanta, Minnesota and Memphis.
“Maybe a little bit, it’s been a lot of games,’’ coach Billy Donovan said after the Grizzlies game, when asked about Williams appearing to hit the wall. “I don’t want to speak for him because I haven’t necessarily had a conversation with him to have him articulate that.’’
Donovan did say that the first play of the Memphis game was put in to get Williams the ball, but “he made the right play’’ when he was cut off from the basket and passed.
The difficulty is getting Williams to continue making the right plays, but understand the aggressiveness he still has to have for a No. 4 overall pick — rookie season or not.
Yes, Nikola Vucevic and Zach LaVine each have All-Star on the resume and are undoubtedly the alphas, but considering the way Lauri Markkanen has checked out far too often and Coby White has struggled to embrace his new bench role, there’s no reason why Williams shouldn’t be the third option on this team.
He’s got a nice float game, a very promising mid-range game, and when he goes to the rim, opposing bodies either move or are moved.
So while Donovan wants to see more production from the new regime’s first draft pick, he also defended the way Williams has played as of late to a certain extent.
“When he goes and drives the ball and he can’t get to the basket, what do you expect him to do?’’ Donovan said. “I don’t love him trying to rise up and shoot over guys at 15, 17 feet and them hanging on him on non-paint twos. He’s going to have to get it inside the framework, out of transition, maybe some offensive rebounds or some of those things. But he has all the freedom in the world to be as aggressive as he possibly wants to be.’’
So how aggressive does he want to be?
Lately, he appears just fine going along with the ride on offense, insisting it will benefit him down the road.
“I think from day one my teammates and coaches have been telling me to stay confident and be aggressive,’’ Williams said. “I still have a long ways to go. But I kind of look at it as building a foundation for the player and person I want to be five, 10, hopefully 15 years from now if I’m still playing in the NBA.’’
That’s fine, but the Bulls need a consistent third-scoring punch now. With 19 games left and still a lot on the line, they don’t have time for foundations to be poured and hardened.
“For anyone to expect him at 19 years old to be taking over NBA games I think it’s probably a little bit of a stretch right now,’’ Donovan said. “I don’t think he’s evolved into that kind of player. I hope someday he’ll evolve into that. He’s not that right now.’’
For this Bulls team to reach where it wants to this final month, he just might need to be.
