Tag: 2023-24 Chicago Bulls

Patrick Williams missing the rest of the Chicago Bulls’ season is just brutal

What does the Williams injury mean for the rest of the team this season?

The Chicago Bulls can’t seem to catch a break with news that starting forward Patrick Williams will miss the rest of the NBA’s 2023-24 season as he and the team elect for foot surgery to repair a hairline fracture. But don’t feel too much pity for the team’s front office, as they could have set themselves up to make something back in terms of draft assets for what is now all but certainly a lost season.

What does the Williams injury mean for the rest of the team this season? And Williams’ role with the ball club in future seasons? What are his recovery prospects for such an injury?

To try to talk us through the range of possibilities for the Bulls and Williams in light of his surgery, the hosts of the “Bulls Central” podcast took some time to break it all down on a recent episode.

Take a look at the clip embedded above to hear what they had to say.

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Should the Chicago Bulls regret not moving Andre Drummond for draft assets?

“The Bulls don’t need him as much as they could’ve used those picks,” writes one NBA analyst.

Should the Chicago Bulls regret not moving Andre Drummond for draft assets? The Bulls’ front office had an opportunity to flip the UConn alum for as many as three second round draft picks ahead of the NBA’s 2024 trade deadline. But instead, they elected to stand pat for the third season in a row, banking on internal development and continuity just days before injuries would derail those plans.

Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley points out that it is not “very often that teams can turn a 30-year-old reserve center on an expiring contract with severe limitations in his game into actual assets,” which Chicago passed on.

Despite thinking they had a deal with the Philadelphia 76ers done, the Bulls pulled out, leaving the team where they are at present. “Is Chicago so focused on reaching the play-in tournament that it can’t even stomach the idea of subtracting someone averaging fewer than 17 minutes per night?” asks Buckley. “Apparently so.”

“Drummond is good at what he does (rebounding and staying active on the interior), but he is very limited and offers almost zero value away from the basket,” he adds.

“At this point of his career, he’s an adequate reserve and nothing more. The Bulls don’t need him as much as they could’ve used those picks.”

And with the season now looking like a lost one, double so.

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On the Chicago Bulls converting Onuralp Bitim to a regular roster spot

This could end up being another situation where an unexpected loss of a player ends up bearing dividends down the road.

No matter how you slice it, the Chicago Bulls need some outside shooting on their roster, and it looks like the team’s front office has made a move to address that, albeit on a relatively minor level. The Bulls recently elected to elevate two way wing Onuralp Bitim to a regular roster spot soon after the news broke that starting forward Patrick Williams would miss the rest of the season due to foot surgery.

This could end up being another situation where an unexpected loss of a player ends up bearing dividends down the road, as was the case with Coby White after Zach LaVine’s foot injury. But Bitim, as intriguing as his play has been with the Windy City Bulls, is also a lot further behind developmentally than White.

Haize, the host of the “Chicago Bulls Central” podcast, recently weighed in on the move in light of the Williams injury. Check it out below!

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Should the Chicago Bulls regret not trading away Andre Drummond at the NBA’s 2024 trade deadline?

It will be especially rough for Chicago’s execs if the UConn alum ends up leaving for nothing in free agency this summer.

Should the Chicago Bulls regret not trading away Andre Drummond at the NBA’s 2024 trade deadline? By now, it is clear that most of the team’s fans are thinking they should have, especially in light of recent injury news further dampening any possibility of a postseason for Chicago.

And if you ask Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley, the Bulls should indeed feel regret for having passed on the draft assets Big Penguin could have garnered for Chicago. “The Chicago Bulls’ decision to stand pat for a third consecutive season arguably came as close to being shocking as anything else,” writes the B/R analyst. “Chicago has always seemed far less interested in overhauling this roster than everyone else thinks it should be.”

“As the Bulls stumble through whatever remains of their season—probably a play-in tournament appearance, almost certainly not any postseason success—they’ll come to regret their latest dormant deadline for a number of reasons,” he adds.

With word that the front office turned down three second round picks for Drummond’s services out there, it will be especially rough for Chicago’s execs if the UConn alum ends up leaving for nothing in free agency this summer.

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Chicago Bulls forward Patrick Williams to have season ending surgery

Will Chicago get an additional boost from playing prospects deeper in the rotation as they did with Coby White?

If you thought that the Chicago Bulls were down bad when they lost Zach LaVine to a foot injury for the rest of the NBA’s 2023-24 season earlier this month, well — the basketball gods just said, “Hold my beer.”

Word on the street is that yet another key member of the Bulls’ rotation to a foot injury, this time forward Patrick Williams. Initially set to be re-evaluated in a few weeks, a second look at his injury by the team convinced them that his stress fracture had worsened enough that surgery was the proper course of action for the Charlotte native.

Will Chicago get an additional boost from playing prospects deeper in the rotation as they did with Coby White in LaVine’s case? After signing wing Onuralp Bitim to a full roster spot, that seems to be the plan.

The folks behind the CHGO Sports’ “CHGO Bulls” show took a closer look at this mess and what it means for Chicago moving forward. Check it out above!

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Chicago elevating two way wing Onuralp Bitim to regular roster spot

The Chicago Bulls have made a decision to elevate one of their two way players to a regular roster spot.

The Chicago Bulls have made a decision to elevate one of their two way players to a regular roster spot after the dust of All-Star Week has settled. Per a release circulated by the team, the Bulls have elected to convert the two way contract of forward Onuralp Bitim to a standard NBA contract.

Though Bitim has just played in two games with Chicago at the NBA level since signing with the team last July, the Turkish forward has played a dozen games with the Windy City Bulls. There, he logged 16.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. He has been Windy City’s best 3-point shot as well, going 43.3% from beyond the arc at the G League level.

The 24-year-old, 6-foot-6 wing will help pick up some of the slack in Chicago’s rotation created by the loss of forward Patrick Williams to foot surgery for the rest of the league’s 2023-24 season.

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Chicago’s Patrick Williams out for season for foot surgery as injury bug spreads

Williams will miss the rest of the Bulls’ campaign to have surgery on his left foot. 

The Chicago Bulls continue to reel from injury as another core player will sit for the remainder of the NBA’s 2023-24 season for foot surgery, per multiple reports. According to Reuters, Patrick Williams will miss the rest of the Bulls’ campaign to have surgery on his left foot.

“Williams has been out since Jan. 25 with an acute bone edema in his left foot,” reports Reuters.” At that time, Williams had already missed three games that month with foot discomfort and had been in a walking boot, and the Bulls said the injury required ‘active rest’ for at least two weeks.”

Since then, the team has reported that “routine subsequent imaging (revealed) the progression of his foot stress reaction.”

Williams has been something of an ironman, having played in all 82 games with Chicago in 2022-23. The 22-year-old forward has been putting up 10.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1. 5 assists with the Bulls so far this season.

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Former Chicago point guard Ryan Arcidiacono signing with Windy City Bulls

Arcidiacono is rejoining the Bulls to play for the ball club’s G League affiliate, the Windy City Bulls.

A familiar face is rejoining the ranks of the Chicago Bulls, according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto. Former New York Knicks point guard Ryan Arcidiacono is rejoining the Bulls to play for the ball club’s G League affiliate, the Windy City Bulls.

It is something of a full circle moment with the team that signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Villanova in 2017. The Arch of Dimes (as Arcidiacono is sometimes called) has since also played for the Portland Trail Blazers at the NBA level. The 6-foot-3, 29-year-old floor general played so few minutes in his last stop that it is hard to get an idea of his production with a greater opportunity — just 2.3 minutes per game.

But Arcidiacono has career averages of 4.0 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game which were similar to his play at similar stops as recently as last season with the Blazers.

At this stage of his career it seems unlikely that we will see too much of Arcidiacono at the NBA level with the Bulls. But the Philly native could find luck trying to rehab his career at that level, even if not necessarily with Chicago.

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Chicago Bulls begin post-All-Star break action with blowout loss to Boston Celtics

Going just 10-of-28 from beyond the arc did not help Chicago.

It looked the Chicago Bulls had a puncher’s chance of taking down the best team in the NBA on Thursday night at the United Center as the Bulls more than held their own against the Boston Celtics. Then, despite carrying a lead into the game’s third quarter, the Celtics clamped down on defense and took the 129-112 win.

No shame in losing a game that was more competitive than the final score might otherwise suggest for most of the contest, though. Solid games were had by the Bulls’ Nikola Vucevic (22 points, 14 rebounds), Coby White (20 points, 4 assists), and DeMar DeRozan (19 points, 5 assists), with all five starters and Andre Drummond scoring in double figures for the loss.

Going just 10-of-28 from beyond the arc did not help Chicago against Boston, either, with 3-point shooting accuracy and volume continuing to plague this Bulls squad.

NBC Sports Chicago’s Jason Goff and Kendall Gill broke down the good and the bad of the loss on the most recent episode of “Bulls Postgame Live.” Check it out above!

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What do we want to see from the Chicago Bulls for the rest of the season?

What else can Chicago do to wrest a bit of momentum back heading into the NBA’s 2024 offseason?

It is far too easy for fans of the Chicago Bulls to focus on all of the things that the storied ball club’s front office has done wrong this season, as there is no shortage of errors and missteps to point to. But what about the future for this banged-up ball club? What do we want to see from the Chicago Bulls for the rest of the 2023-24 season?

We have heard rumbles about fortifying the roster with a buyout guy or two, which might not be the worst place to start. There has been some success in developing players in place of the injured stars they tend to play behind — expanding this approach is also a good plan.

What else can Chicago do to wrest a bit of momentum back heading into the NBA’s 2024 offseason?

The folks behind the “Bulls Central” YouTube channel recently put together five things they would like to see from the Bulls for the rest of this season.

Take a look at the clip above to hear them.

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