Patrick Williams has faced this before. At 22, he already spent one NBA season focused on recovering from an injury.
So when he was shut down for the season this week for surgery to treat a stress fracture in his left foot, the Chicago Bulls forward knew how the road ahead would look — four months defined by patience.
This time, however, the future is more uncertain. Williams will enter restricted free agency this summer after the first contract year of his career, in which he was able to play only 43 games before being sidelined with a bone edema in the foot. The Bulls will have a decision to make — whether to extend a qualifying offer or risk Williams walking — as they weigh a variety of roster concerns, including DeMar DeRozan’s future.
But for Williams, the unexpected end to the season does nothing to change his intentions this summer.
“I would love to continue to be a Bull,” Williams said Saturday, a day after the team announced his upcoming surgery. “I love it here. I love the opportunity that we have to build the culture, build something special with this group and this team. I think I’m a really good cornerstone piece for this team.
“I understand it’s a business but with that being said I love it here, I love the team, I love the guys, I love the front office.”
At first, it seemed Williams was on track to get back on the court by the end of February. After wearing a walking boot after the Jan. 25 game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Williams spent nearly three weeks with his foot immobilized with the goal of reducing swelling to a manageable level for the rest of the season.
He returned to Chicago early from the All-Star break and began a conservative ramp-up process Feb. 17. Although he never elevated to running, Williams felt bolstered by the first three days of the process — and by his pain level, which was diminished to “a two out of ten” during that time.
So when Williams underwent a routine MRI on Wednesday morning, he expected to continue to receive positive news. Instead, he got a call from the medical team that night — the scan revealed a stress fracture in the navicular bone, which meant the injury was not healing with rest alone.
At that point, he faced a choice. There was the option to return to the boot, sit out several more weeks and then attempt a return. But surgery was still a likelihood — and a strong one given the fracture — even if he took that road. So Williams opted to end his season early and expedite the recovery process.
Bulls forward Patrick Williams drives into Pacers forward Jalen Smith in the first quarter on Dec. 28, 2023, at the United Center. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
“It was frustrating because I’m thinking I’m ramping up, shooting at a date around the end of this month to come back,” Williams said. “You hear that news, it’s kind of devastating.”
Williams will undergo surgery March 6 in New York. He has not determined whether he will return to Chicago for his rehabilitation.
The injury is another hurdle for Williams, who saw his rookie season disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and lost most of his second season due to a wrist injury.
Coach Billy Donovan hoped this season would be foundational for Williams to find his footing and establish himself as a reliable starter. And for a brief period, he was meeting those aspirations — particularly during a stretch in December in which he averaged 14.1 points and 4.4 rebounds across 14 starts.
But the injury kept Williams from sustaining that growth, leading to a visible regression in January as he tried to play through discomfort.
“He did everything he could to try to get himself back,” Donovan said. “He was playing well. I think he was doing a really good job. He was probably dealing with his foot for a while. I thought he was on a good path but leading up to the time that he went out, those games prior to that, I didn’t think his performance was great. But when he was healthy I thought he really had made some good positive strides.”
Williams didn’t exactly jump off the stat sheet in his fourth season, averaging 10 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists while moving in and out of the starting lineup.
But guard Alex Caruso feels the Bulls will miss his impact on both ends of the court — moving the ball, creating opportunities on the offensive glass, controlling the defensive boards.
“That was stuff that we were missing that he really does well for you,” Caruso said.
Caruso acknowledged the difficulty of facing the rest of the season without Williams, especially in the light of already having lost Zach LaVine to a season-ending surgery. This will pose a particular challenge for Caruso, who will be asked to outplay his size as a stopgap power forward to fill in for Williams and the injured Torrey Craig.
But in the moment, Caruso mostly was thinking of Williams, who has had the chance to play only one full, non-COVID season in his four-year career.
“We feel for him,” Caruso said. “He’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever been around as a teammate. He wants everybody else to be OK and be right and he’s the one who can’t get it right right now. So we’re feeling for him and we’re there for him.”
