Williams gets preseason start
Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan plans to use the team’s four preseason games to try out different lineup combinations, mixing and matching as he learns the new roster he will guide this season.
He started with the same group through the first two games but decided to take an extended look at Patrick Williams Wednesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Bulls inserted the rookie, whom they made the No. 4 pick in the draft a month ago, into the starting lineup at small forward, and he had 13 points and seven rebounds as they coasted to a 124-103 victory over the Thunder. Otto Porter Jr. is healthy and played 22 minutes off the bench with eight points and four assists.
Donovan repeatedly said during training camp that his starters were not set in stone. He reiterated that point before Wednesday’s game, when he left open the possibility that Williams could find his way into the starting lineup for the regular season.
“I think keeping an open mind toward that is not out of the question,” Donovan said. “I think that we would look at everything in terms of how do we best balance out the group going forward.”
The move certainly has the potential to give the Bulls rotation more balance.
Williams would add defensive presence on the perimeter to a starting lineup sorely lacking it. He is not completely polished as a perimeter defender and struggled at times through the first two preseason games against smaller, quicker guards on the Houston Rockets. But he is almost certainly the Bulls’ best perimeter defender already.
On the flip side, Porter would provide scoring off the bench to the reserve unit. That group suddenly appeared much thinner Wednesday assix players did not make the trip. Thad Young will miss preseason with a leg infection while Tomas Satoransky (excused absence related to COVID-19 protocols) and Garrett Temple (tested positive for
COVID-19) also were out.
Donovan said it is too early to tell whether the veteran reserves will be ready to start the regular season on time.
“It’s just more to see, like, ‘OK, what does Patrick look like with that first group? Does Otto, you know, give us a little bit of a punch off the bench from a scoring standpoint?’ ” Donovan said. “We’re going to have to make some sacrifices all the way around as a team in terms of how we need to play, and then also what guys’ roles may be, just because of the uniqueness of what we’re all dealing with at this point in time.”