Chicago’s Patrick Williams on using his platform for good, his recovery, and the Bulls’ season to come

Take a look at how the Patrick Williams Foundation came to be, and what it plans to do. But first, let’s dive into Williams’ situation with the Bulls.

A season-ending injury can be the sort of thing that can have a younger player down in the dumps as they sort through the emotions such a situation can elicit. But for Chicago Bulls forward Patrick Williams, the show must go on, as the Florida State alum leaned into using his platform to effect change in the local community.

Williams put on a gala to launch his eponymous “Patrick Williams Foundation” on Thursday evening of this week, and we hear it went swimmingly. But what is his foundation about, what does it hope to to, and how did he get it off the ground?

The Bulls Wire linked up with the Charlotte native to talk it over just before the gala kicked off; let’s take a look at how the Patrick Williams Foundation came to be, and what it plans to do. But first, we dove into Williams’ situation with the Bulls.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

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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Patrick Williams on Bulls future after news of season-ending surgery

Chicago Bulls forward Patrick Williams discussed his future with the team after the announcement that he will have season-ending surgery.

The Chicago Bulls’ lack of movement at the trade deadline drew a ton of criticism from fans, but on top of that, the team has also dealt with some bad luck this season. In addition to losing Zach LaVine for the rest of the season, it was recently announced that Patrick Williams is set to have season-ending surgery on his left foot.

To make matters more interesting, Williams is in the final year of his contract and will need a new contract this summer. Now, he’ll be left to negotiate after missing the final stretch of the season post-All-Star break.

Following the news, Williams spoke at length about his future with the team. (H/t KC Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago)

“I don’t think anybody knows what their future is to be honest,” Williams said. “I would love to continue to be a Bull. I love it here. I love the opportunity we have to build culture, to build something special with this group and this team. I think I could really be a cornerstone piece for this team. But you never know what the future holds, and I understand it’s a business. Like I said, I love it here. I love the team. I love the guys. I love the front office. For now, worry about the surgery and getting back playing and let the chips fall where they may. . . . Nobody has really even talked about contract stuff. It’s more so about getting me back healthy, which I appreciate.”

Will Williams still be on the Bulls next season?

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What are the Chicago Bulls doing for the rest of the season?

What is the Chicago Bulls’ plan for the remainder of the season?

When the Chicago Bulls decided to do nothing at the trade deadline, fans were upset. This year marks the third in a row that the Bulls decided to stand pat, choosing to keep the roster they have on hand in favor of pushing for the playoffs. What have they gotten out of it? One playoff win in two seasons.

Heading into the final stretch of this season, things are looking rough for the Bulls. Patrick Williams and Zach LaVine are both out for the rest of the season, and in their first game since the All-Star break, they got blown out by the Boston Celtics in a 17-point loss.

That said, Coby Whtie and Ayo Dosunmu have been playing well, and the Bulls just signed Onrulap Bitim to a standard deal. What will the rest of the year look like? The Chicago Bulls Central YouTube channel recently discussed this very topic.

The Bulls are in a very weird spot.

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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’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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The Chicago Bulls are starting to feel the pinch of the injury bug

The Bulls were hoping that internal development and improving health might have them in the mix for the play-in tournament.

The Chicago Bulls are starting to feel the pinch of the injury bug again after a few healthy weeks. Word is that veteran forward Torrey Craig is going to miss at least two to four weeks with a knee injury. Craig has not been back long since returning from another injury earlier in the season, just as the Bulls’ front office was hoping that internal development and improving health might have them in the mix for the play-in tournament.

Now, new and additional injury intel is percolating through the Chicago media landscape, with forward Patrick Williams being put on the injury list as well. Williams evidently cannot run at the moment due to his own malady below the belt, which is sort of a required component of playing NBA basketball.

“Locked On Bulls” cohost Pat The Designer sat down and held a magnifying glass to the situation in light of the front office’s decisions at the trade deadline.

Check it out above!

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Chicago Bulls provide latest Patrick Williams injury update

Chicago Bulls head coach provided an injury update on Patrick Williams.

With the Chicago Bulls’ lack of moves at the trade deadline, the team committed to winning. It will be all hands on deck in Chicago if they want to make the playoffs, but that’s where the front office wants to be, so that’s going to be the team’s goal for the remainder of the year.

But in order to effectively be competitive in the Eastern Conference playoff race, they need all of their guys on the floor. The Bulls have dealt with some serious injuries this season, and one of the biggest has been the absence of Patrick Williams, who was finally starting to figure things out before his injury.

Head coach Billy Donovan recently provided an injury update, noting that Williams is slowly ramping things up. (H/t KC Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago)

“Patrick is doing the light, slow ramp-up,” Donovan said. “Everything they do is going to be based on his pain and what he can tolerate. Quite honestly, there have been certain things where he’s felt it. He’s much better than he was. I think when this first happened, he was feeling it walking. He’s beyond that right now. But they’re going to be very, very careful in terms of how much they continue to push through and how much they pull back on him. He has responded really well and done well. But on some of the things he has done, he has felt it mildly. And they’ll be cautious.”

Getting Williams back sooner rather than later would give the Bulls a huge boost.

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Can Patrick Williams, Coby White, and Ayo Dosunmu win titles as the Chicago Bulls’ core?

How likely is it that this trio is the future of the Bulls organization?

The injury to starting Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine had a silver lining in that it opened up space for backup guards Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu, as well as forward Patrick Williams to a lesser extent. But how likely is it that this trio is the future of the Bulls organization?

Not especially, if you ask NBA Dot Com’s Sam Smith. “I’m not sure that trio is a championship formula, but you can make a case for a very competitive — yes, we love that word now — core with the trio of Coby, Ayo and Patrick,” he suggests. “Coby, frankly has been the shocker almost like Derrick Rose going from ‘He can’t score’ to MVP.”

“Coby’s been able to put up 30-point games regularly not just with his shooting but some pretty remarkable ball handling to get to the basket and into the mid-range,” writes Smith.

“He missed that potential tying shot in Cleveland the other night,” he recalls, “but that should be the baton handoff from DeRozan to allow Coby to become that guy.”

Then, running with the idea of extending DeRozan, “which most believe they will, have him in a strong support role to those three because he can still get buckets. It just needs to be evolving to a secondary role.”

Not exactly a championship roster, but a competitive one indeed.

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Rival execs monitoring Patrick Williams ahead of the NBA’s 2024 trade deadline

More likely than not, Williams makes it to the offseason wearing red and white.

One name absent from the many who have previously been floated as a potential trade deadline target or tied to teams on the hunt for new blood on the Chicago Bulls roster has made a late appearance in deadline buzz. That would be Bulls forward Patrick Williams, who is starting to garner interest among the front offices of other teams after having failed to come to terms with Chicago’s front office on a contract extension, per Hoops Hype’s Michael Scotto.

Per the HoopsHype reporter, “rival executives are quietly monitoring the availability of former No. 4 overall pick Patrick Williams ahead of the deadline,” with the looming restricted free agency of the former top pick driving the interest.

It remains unclear what plans the Bulls have for such a scenario, but Chicago would be able to match any deal that came his way this offseason with the right of first refusal baked into his current deal.

More likely than not, Williams makes it to the offseason wearing red and white.

But a motivated buyer could likely come up with an offer that could convince the Bulls to move on, given we have heard little in the way of affirmations from the team that they intend to keep Williams.

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