Former No. 4 overall pick Patrick Williams is owed $54MM over the next three years, including an $18MM player option for 2028/29. But even after recovering from a quad injury, the Bulls forward remains buried on the depth chart under new head coach Tiago Splitter, having yet to play a minute this fall.

“I told him during the whole (training) camp and before we started the games he was doing a great job, he was forcing his hand and making my life difficult because he was doing a good job,” Splitter said Friday, per Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times.

“He’s got to stay ready. His moment is going to come. You can’t just switch rotations every day. You’ve got to stick to something and evaluate, see how the young guys are doing. He’s going to have time to play and there will be changes made throughout the season, so he’s ready to go.”

According to K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network (Twitter thread), Williams says he has a “really good” relationship with Splitter and is hopeful his opportunity will eventually come.

“I’m not a bench player. But being a professional is responding when things aren’t going well,” Williams said. “It’s easy to work hard when things are going well. When it’s not, are you still a hard worker? I am.

“ … I’ve been around this league long enough to know opportunities always come back around. I’ll be ready.”

Here’s more on the Bulls:

Isaac Okoro will be a free agent next summer if he doesn’t sign a veteran extension before then, but the defensive-minded wing recently said his contract situation isn’t something he thinks about, according to Cowley. “It’s my seventh year in the league,” Okoro said. “I know what comes with it. I know every time I step on the court I’ve got to play my game. I have to do what I do best. There’s no, ‘Oh it’s a contract year so I’ve got to go out and shoot 10 threes a game, I’ve got to be ball dominant.’ Like no, I’ve been in the league this long being who I’ve been. So anytime I step on the court it’s about playing hard, being competitive, try and lead the team the way I can. You got to focus on the Chicago Bulls and how can we get wins, how can we get better.”
Friday’s NBA Cup contest in Boston quickly went off the rails for the Bulls after they allowed 44 points in the fourth quarter, writes Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune. The Bulls trailed by 29 points at halftime in the lopsided road loss. “We’re the Chicago Bulls, and I feel like it’s unacceptable to be losing like we are and laying down that early in the game,” rookie forward Caleb Wilson said.
Wilson expanded on his thoughts after Chicago’s second blowout loss in Boston in five days, Cowley adds in another story. “I’m 20 and I’ve never been a loser in my whole life so I’m going to try my best to make sure that doesn’t happen, and I’m not ever going to accept being a loser,” Wilson said of trying to will the team back into it in the second half. “This is my job to be a leader on this team and it’s all going to start with me, I know that. It’s partially my fault that we started off the way we did, whether I’m the youngest on the team or not. I take ownership for that and it won’t happen again.“