It’s hard to call the Bulls’ embarrassing loss Friday to the Hornets rock bottom for their front office, especially when the floor continues sinking.
It’s no secret executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas has been actively shopping veterans Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic since the summer, hoping to acquire draft assets and build a better future. But now it’s becoming clear that even some pieces the Bulls were counting on to be part of that future are looking more suspect than prospect.
A source Saturday told the Sun-Times that Karnisovas finally has bought in to the idea that 23-year-old forward Patrick Williams needs a change of scenery, opening the door for him to be on the trade block, too.
The problem is that such a move also might be too little, too late.
The Bulls started making LaVine available a year after they gave him a max contract, allowed Andre Drummond to walk into free agency months after turning down second-round picks for him in a prospective trade and are shopping Vucevic, who has the rest of this season and next season left on his contract. Now there’s Williams, whom they signed to a five-year, $90 million extension last summer.
Williams was a restricted free agent at the time, so the Bulls could have let him test the market and get an offer, then decide whether to match it or let him walk. Instead, they signed him without any competition.
So why the change of heart?
The Bulls’ coaching staff has been trying to unlock Williams’ potential for years. And while he has had setbacks with injuries, the source said Williams hasn’t been easy to work with.
As is the case with most NBA teams, individual coaches are matched up with individual players, and there has been frustration on both sides with previous matchups. The source stressed that Williams hasn’t been volatile or difficult in terms of his behavior. It’s more about him not being completely comfortable to buy in to what’s being communicated.
Director of player development Peter Patton has stepped in to take over those duties, and it seemed as though Williams was finally on to something when he averaged 11.2 points and 4.6 rebounds in November.
In Williams’ last nine games, however, he has averaged a disappointing 6.6 points and 2.6 rebounds.
Williams hasn’t just gone backward, he has regressed to the point where coach Billy Donovan continues cutting his minutes. Against the Hornets, he played 17 minutes, scored five points, didn’t grab a rebound and was minus-17 in plus/minus.
After the game, Donovan was asked whether he was concerned about Williams, whom the Bulls drafted with the No. 4 overall pick in 2020.
‘‘I don’t want to use the word ‘concerned,’ but I think Patrick’s heart is in a really good place as it relates to our team, and I think he really wants to do well,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘ . . . I think the next iteration, the next part of it, at least offensively, is going to end up being, ‘What are the [plays] I need to go in and finish [and] what are the ones I need to spray out?’ And when he does spray it out, taking care of the ball.
‘‘The other part of it, too, for our team, we need more rebounding from him. I think he’s made the effort to try and go there, but we probably need to get a little more out of him. But I’m not concerned about him. I know this stretch for him has not been good, but he has had moments where he has been pretty good. I think he does work; I think he’s a good player. He’s up in a tough stretch right now. He’s still going through a maturation process offensively.’’
