Patrick Williams has become the contract question hanging over the Bulls, and the possibility of a waive-and-stretch move is part of that conversation.
The issue traces back to two decisions that, according to ESPN’s Jamal Collier, helped define Arturas Karnisovas’ run as the team’s executive vice president of basketball operations: taking Williams fourth overall in the 2020 draft, then later giving him a five-year, $90 million fully guaranteed deal with a player option. That combination has left Chicago with a deal that now looks increasingly difficult to manage.
With Karnisovas gone and Williams’ contract becoming harder to ignore, the Bulls’ next basketball decision-maker, Bryson Graham, could eventually have to weigh whether stretching the deal makes sense.
Under the NBA’s waive-and-stretch mechanism, a team can cut a player and spread the remaining guaranteed money over a longer period, usually stretching the final two years of a contract across five years. The Bucks’ 2025 offseason decision to waive and stretch the final two years of Damian Lillard’s $113 million salary to clear space for Myles Turner is the most recent high-profile example.
For Williams, the scenario would likely only come into play in a 2027 offseason setting, with the final two years of his contract carrying $36 million guaranteed. In that case, the Bulls would be looking at $18 million against the cap in each of those two seasons if they chose to stretch the money out.
That idea only really makes sense if Williams never rebounds enough to create a trade market. If he does, the cleaner route would be to move him in a salary-dump trade instead.
So why would Chicago even consider it? One reason would be if the Bulls needed to avoid apron penalties or the luxury tax. But that kind of financial pressure doesn’t usually line up with how the franchise has operated, since ownership has been more willing to accept cash considerations and luxury tax subsidies than to push hard into the kind of spending that builds a title contender.
There’s also a roster angle. If the Bulls think they can use that spot more productively, stretching Williams could open the door for a different kind of player development bet. Jaylin Sellers is one name mentioned as a possible beneficiary, and if Chicago wants to keep building a pipeline from undrafted free agents and two-way contracts, swapping Williams’ $18 million annual hit for a veteran minimum player plus a stretched $7.2 million charge could make more sense over time.
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