The Chicago Bulls went with enormous upside when they drafted Patrick Williams.
As Chicago Bulls fans prepared for the 2020 NBA Draft, it was all about whether or not one of the top three would fall to no. 4 overall. As it turned out, the top three picks went pretty much as planned. From there, the Bulls had their opportunity to begin the real fun.
Was it going to be Deni Avdija, the best international prospect in the draft? Or how about Tyrese Haliburton, Obi Toppin or maybe even Isaac Okoro?
Arturas Karnisovas and the Bulls went a different route, selecting a guy many fans hadn’t done their research on. Florida State’s Patrick Williams was the pick, and the 6-foot-8 forward rose up draft boards the closer it got to draft night.
Now that fans have done a little research on him, surely, it’s time to start watching for training camp reports when it begins. Fans want to know just how this guy is looking and what the outlook is for the rookie.
One NBA veteran seems to have Williams’ outlook pegged. Spencer Dinwiddie, a familiar face for Chicago fans and current Brooklyn Nets point guard, was asked by a fan on Twitter what he thought of Williams as a player. The answer was as good as you could ask for as a Bulls fan.
Obviously, the word “ceiling” is one thrown around no matter which professional draft you’re talking about. Whether it’s NBA, NFL, NHL or another major draft, so many teams try to draft for guys who have the highest ceiling, or “upside” as you might also hear it called.
What is Williams’ ceiling? According to Dinwiddie, he has no ceiling, and that’s as good of a compliment as you could give a rookie who hasn’t yet played in the league.
One thing we do know about Williams, which makes Dinwiddie’s comment believable, is that he loves to work. Since his pre-draft interviews, post-draft comments and everything we’ve heard from him since, the one word that comes up more than any other word is, “work.”
Williams continues to say that there is “work to be done,” and he cannot wait to “go to work” with his new teammates. He’s humble about it. He seems genuine when he talks about hard work, because it’s truly all he has been talking about through this entire process.
We know he’s one heck of an athlete who loves to play defense, no matter what position he’s up against. We know he goes up and protects the offensive glass better than any other wing in this draft. Everything would lead you to believe that we really don’t know what his ceiling looks like, and that’s encouraging when talking about an organization amidst some big changes.
In just about a week, we will get to start seeing training camp reports on this kid. The 2020-2021 season is right around the corner, and fans should be high in anticipation to watch Williams begin his development.
