Chicago Bulls shake up their lineup, putting pressure on Patrick Williams and Ayo Dosunmu to produce off the bench

A quarter of the way into the season, Billy Donovan felt the Chicago Bulls needed a change.

The coach pulled second-year guard Ayo Dosunmu and third-year power forward Patrick Williams out of the starting lineup against the Golden State Warriors on Friday, replacing them with veterans Alex Caruso and Javonte Green. It won’t necessarily be a permanent change, but it also wasn’t a one-time whim.

“It wasn’t really about Ayo or Patrick as much as, OK, we’ve got to shake some things up here a little bit,” Donovan said.

After a demoralizing road blowout to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, Donovan thought something needed to change. The locker room reflected a restless frustration as the Bulls slumped to 9-12. The starting lineup had fallen into a pattern of opening games flat, relying on the bench and second-half heroics to battle back into games.

Changing the lineup didn’t provide an immediate change in results for the Bulls, who lost to the Warriors 119-111 and fell to 2-3 on their six-game trip, which concludes Sunday against the Sacramento Kings. But Donovan felt the shift nevertheless steered the Bulls in a better direction.

“There just really wasn’t consistency there,” Donovan said. “There’s a pretty decent body of work for the number of games we played. I wanted to take a look at something different. It may be something that’s just not good. But at least I’ve thrown it out there and I’ve taken a look at it, because clearly over the first 20 games or so we’ve had this up-and-down roller coaster.”

For Donovan, however, pulling Dosunmu and Williams from the starting lineup comes at a slight price. The pair represents the youthful future of the team — especially Williams, who has been a focus of growing frustration for the fan base three years after he was drafted No. 4 in 2020.

Donovan has been blunt about the need for Williams to improve his aggressiveness, particularly around the rim on offense and defense. But despite modest scoring — 9.1 points per game — Williams has begun to slowly develop in recent weeks.

Williams said Donovan pulled him aside several days before the Warriors game, talking through the decision and gauging how Williams felt about moving to the secondary unit.

[ [Don’t miss] Chicago Bulls are being thoroughly outscored from behind the 3-point line: ‘You can’t have that kind of discrepancy’ ]

“I kind of expected it,” Williams said. “Obviously we haven’t been playing up to the level that we know we need to play to. I trust Billy, I trust the coaches. If it’s for winning, if you think it helped the team, I’m all for it.”

Chicago Tribune Sports

Weekdays

A daily sports newsletter delivered to your inbox for your morning commute.

Added Donovan: “There’s always a level of prestige when starting. I get all that. But I also think those guys see a bigger picture. It’s not like I said to them, ‘Hey, listen, we’re moving you out of the starting lineup and you’re out of the rotation.’ I’m sure those guys in their heart of hearts want to start but I also think the team’s more important to them too.”

Donovan emphasized that he still views the role for Williams and Dosunmu as equally important whether they fit into the primary or secondary group — especially as he manages loads and rotations.

For instance, Donovan aims to limit Caruso to less than 30 minutes to prevent injuries because of the extreme physicality with which he plays defense. As a result, Dosunmu played only seven minutes less coming off the bench as he typically would as a starter.

“It is what it was,” Dosunmu said. “I’m pretty much still playing about the same time. It’s still all the same basketball when I’m out there.”

Williams said he’s unsure how long his move out of the starting lineup will last. But as he continues to field questions about his ability to live up to the lofty expectations set when he was drafted, Williams is trying to stay focused on the present.

In the second quarter against the Warriors, Williams said Donovan pulled him aside, delivering praise for his efforts to provide a two-way pop off the bench. For now, Williams said, that contribution will be his main focus.

“As a player, you can’t sit and think about things that you can’t control,” Williams said. “It’s just wasted energy. It’ll be my job to make sure I’m ready whenever my name is called. Everybody wants to start, everybody wants to play 48 minutes, but it’s about whatever is best for the team.”