PATRICK Williams

In 2025-26, Williams appeared in 72 games for Chicago and averaged 7.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 20.5 minutes. He shot 37.2 percent from the field, 34.7 percent from three and 72.0 percent from the line, with a true shooting mark of 49.4 percent. His usage rate sat at 15.9 percent, and he added 0.7 steals, 0.4 blocks and 1.0 turnovers per game. His plus-minus for the season was minus-4.8, a number that reflects a Bulls team that leaned on him in a complementary role rather than as a primary scorer or shot-creator.

Williams is not on the injury report heading into this stretch of the schedule, and there's no injury history listed for him this season. That's notable for a player whose Bulls tenure has been shadowed by injury questions in years past. Right now, the absence of any health flag means his reduced minutes to open 2026-27 are a function of how Chicago's rotation has been constructed early, not a physical setback. For a six-year veteran who has had to fight through setbacks before, simply being a clean bill of health to start the year is itself a meaningful data point.

Williams' role wasn't static in 2025-26. Late in that season, he saw a jump in playing time and production. On April 7 against Washington, he posted 20 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists in 31.9 minutes in a win, with a plus-26 mark. Two days later against the same Wizards, he added 15 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists in 39.0 minutes, also a win. He closed the season with 8 points in 27.4 minutes against Orlando on April 10 and 13 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists in 35.6 minutes against Dallas on April 12, both losses. Those outings show he can handle a bigger workload when called on.

Chicago beat writer Joe Cowley published a Bulls Notes column on October 15 that touched on the second unit, name-checking Miller, Smith, Essengue and Jones alongside broader bench-rotation notes. Williams' own minutes this season have come almost entirely off the bench, so he's part of that same second-unit conversation Chicago's beat is tracking. Nothing in that column amounts to a confirmed change for Williams specifically, but it underscores that the Bulls' bench mix is very much a live question five games into the year, with his minutes the clearest early signal of how that group is shaking out.