Patrick Williams sits near the center of the Chicago Bulls’ new reality, and that’s not a place the franchise wanted to be when Bryson Graham took over.
Graham has already given the Bulls something fans have been chasing for years: a clear direction. The rebuild now has real shape after Chicago climbed to fourth in the NBA Draft Lottery and landed the chance to take Caleb Wilson. That move, paired with the additions of the 6'9" power forward, Dailyn Swain, Rob Dillingham, Matas Buzels, and to some extent Josh Giddey, gives the Bulls a young core to build around.
The front office also helped create flexibility this offseason by signing Norman Powell and Zach Collins to two-year deals with team options. Those contracts should be movable at the trade deadline, which gives Chicago a better long-term setup than it has had in a while.
Still, Graham inherited one of the old regime’s biggest messes. Williams’ five-year, $90 million deal - complete with a player option - was recently labeled by Sam Quinn of CBS Sports as the NBA’s eighth-worst contract. For a team trying to reset, that kind of commitment is hard to ignore.
Williams’ production last season only made the problem louder. He averaged seven points, three rebounds, and 1.5 assists while shooting 37.2% from the field over 72 games. The money doesn’t look as ugly as some of the league’s max deals, but the on-court return has been thin enough to make the contract sting all the same.
"The Bulls paid Patrick Williams $90 million because they drafted him No. 4 overall. That's it.
He has very impressive physical tools that have never manifested into consistent, winning basketball. He's a minimum-level player at this point who'd probably get slightly more than that on the open market for upside alone, but he's making more than the mid-level exception."
Sam Quinn, CBS Sports
For now, Chicago can live with the deal if the priority is development and the team isn’t handing out major money elsewhere. But the clock keeps ticking in the background. Matas Buzels will be eligible for an extension next offseason, and a big step forward in 2026-27 could push him into that higher-paid tier.
If the Bulls eventually decide they need to move on from Williams, the options are limited.
One route would be to attach draft capital and try to convince a cap-space team to absorb the contract next offseason. The problem is obvious: Chicago doesn’t have any first-round picks outside of its own between now and 2033, and Graham’s job is to add draft assets, not spend them.
Another possibility is packaging Williams in a bigger trade as salary ballast when another team goes after a star. Even then, the player option in 2028-29 could make the deal tougher for a new team to swallow.
There’s also the waive-and-stretch route, the kind of move the Milwaukee Bucks made with Damian Lillard. That would spread the $36 million currently guaranteed to Williams across a longer timeline, likely around five seasons.
The most appealing outcome would be Williams turning things around enough to create actual trade value under Tiago Splitter. Whether that’s realistic is another question.
Either way, if Graham’s goal is to move the Bulls fully into a new era, Williams’ contract remains one of the clearest reminders of the one he inherited.
In Other News...
One Young Bulls Player Is Suddenly At The Center Of Trade Talk
With the season still ahead and Chicagos roster in flux, the Bulls are once again being tracked as a team to watch for trade movement. The discussion has centered on a few names who could appeal to other teams or help reshape the rotation, including Isaac Okoro, Jalen Smith and Tre Jones, but the most interesting one is the youngest player in the group, Noa Essengue. His place on the roster has become a real talking point because the Bulls are still sorting out how they view him and where he fits.
Essengues situation stands out because his role has already slipped, making him the kind of player who can surface quickly in trade chatter even without anything imminent on the table. For now, this remains more analysis than reporting on an actual deal, but it does underscore how unsettled the back end of Chicagos roster remains. If the Bulls do make a move, his name appears to be the one that has moved closest to the center of the conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Dalen Terrys Bulls Exit Could Still Lead To A Real NBA Chance
Dalen Terrys path since leaving Chicago has already taken plenty of turns, and it has kept him on the fringe of an NBA opportunity rather than settled into one. After bouncing through a series of transactions and landing on a two-way deal with Philadelphia, Terry found himself back on the open market once the 76ers made roster changes, a reminder of how quickly those end-of-bench situations can shift for young players trying to stick.
Now there is at least another possible landing spot to watch, with NBA insider Jake Fischer noting that Golden State could take a look at Terry this offseason as it tries to sort out its own roster needs. For a former Bull who is still looking to turn movement and uncertainty into something stable, that kind of interest matters, because it can be the difference between another wait-and-see summer and a real shot to stay in an NBA building. [Read more 🡒]
Bulls Could Lose A Rookie Shooter Before He Ever Arrives
Donovan Atwells next step is suddenly less straightforward than it looked when the Texas Tech shooting guard was linked to Chicago on an Exhibit 10 deal. The Bulls were reportedly interested in bringing in the perimeter shooter as an undrafted rookie, a low-risk way to get him in the building and see whether his shot translates to the pro level.
A new NCAA ruling has changed the landscape for players from the 2022 class who have used up their eligibility, opening the door for another college season and another chance to boost their profile. For Atwell, that leaves a familiar offseason choice with a fresh wrinkle: start chasing a pro opportunity now, or head back to campus and keep building toward a stronger future draft case. [Read more 🡒]