ATLANTA — Bulls coach Billy Donovan doesn’t give up on players.
He didn’t during his legendary days at Florida, and he has carried that same attitude into the NBA. Maybe that’s one of the reasons he’s in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
So while forward Patrick Williams has been more of an enigma than a proven commodity, especially for a No. 4 overall pick, Donovan says it’s his job to understand what Williams is, accept it but never settle on it.
It’s not an easy tightrope to walk, and it’s made even more difficult by Williams’ inconsistency.
“The statement I can make is, you see somebody get to a certain level and not the level you think they can get to, and how do you help them get there?” Donovan said Sunday. “There also has to be a part of me balance-wise that I’ve got to accept Patrick for what he does and how he contributes as a player.
‘‘There have been moments where he’s been really, really effective, then there are some moments where he really hasn’t. So then you look at it as, ‘OK, can he work and get better finishing?’
‘‘He hasn’t been great finishing around the basket; that’s been a challenge for him. He really has improved his three-point shooting; you feel good about that. I think he gives us a lot on defense physically, but the scoring dynamic of who he’s evolved into maybe from his rookie year to now as a scorer, there really hasn’t been a whole lot of change. Not saying he can’t score, but there have been ups and downs in the scoring piece.
“So what I’ve tried to focus on is, ‘OK, what can he bring to the table every single night, that he knows he can bring to the table that’s going to help our team?’ That’s the defending, taking the open shots, and I do think he’s made a more conscientious effort to try to get to the backboard. Can he get better? Absolutely, we all can get better, me included. But I also feel like when he’s out there, he’s trying to play the right way for our team, and I’m OK with that.”
It’s not like Donovan had much of a choice. He wasn’t the one who handed Williams a five-year, $90 million contract extension in the 2024 offseason.
But Donovan is responsible for doing all he can to make sure Williams brings his strengths to the floor when he’s called upon.
And Williams began the season well, averaging just under 10 points and making key defensive stops, but his game and minutes have tumbled since mid-November.
Williams did get the early nod off the bench against the Hawks, but two nights earlier in Cleveland, he was the 11th man.
“Everybody looks at the same thing, right, where he’s picked,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘Can this guy someday at some point be this NBA All-Star? Some guys in this league, as young as they are coming in, everybody has their own path. I’ve tried to, not stop pushing him, but trying to get him to contribute on those things on a regular basis. For me to expect that he’s going to go from here to here, I think that would probably frustrate him and myself doing that. I’ve got to figure out how he can help our team.”
NOTE: Donovan continued using the two-big look, pairing Nikola Vucevic, Zach Collins and Jalen Smith in different combinations. The move looks like it has gone from experiment to a part of the rotation.
