BOSTON — The groin injury that sidelined forward Patrick Williams the last week was in the past. His days of being a DNP-CD were not.
But Bulls coach Tiago Splitter still sees value in the No. 4 overall pick from the 2020 draft, letting him know to stay ready. Staying ready, however, and seeing playing time as a rotation piece are two different conversations.
“I told him during the whole camp and before we started the games that he was doing a great job, he was forcing my hand and making my life difficult because he was doing a good job,” Splitter said Friday.
“He’s got to stay ready. His moment is going to come. You can’t just switch rotations every day. You’ve got to stick to something and evaluate, see how the young guys are doing. He’s going to have time to play, and there will be changes made throughout the season, so he’s ready to go.”
Unfortunately for Williams, there are several players in front of him who have proved more with the new coaching staff. Rookie Caleb Wilson and Matas Buzelis are the starting forwards, and Isaac Okoro, Leonard Miller and Noa Essengue are the backups Splitter has been using.
That line Williams is waiting in is about to get longer when Nic Claxton (hamstring) is able to make his Bulls debut. That means Jalen Smith becomes the backup five/four, adding to the logjam in the frontcourt.
And, yes, Williams might be the highest paid of all that group at $18 million a year through the 2028-29 season in which he will undoubtedly pick up his player option, but that has no influence on the new front office or coaching staff.
When Splitter was asked if there had been any conversations with executive vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham in which he was told that Williams had to be looked at for minutes just because of the contract he was carrying, he said, “No, we never had that conversation.”
Crafty veteran
Okoro doesn’t need to be reminded that he’s in the last year of a deal in which he’ll make $11.8 million this season, admitting that it’s not something that weighs on his mind or influences the way he takes the court each night.
Yes, he can be a valuable trade asset in February if the front office wants to move him, but his mindset is that’s a concern for another day.
“It’s my seventh year in the league,” Okoro said. “I know what comes with it. I know every time I step on the court, I’ve got to play my game. I have to do what I do best. There’s no, ‘Oh, it’s a contract year, so I’ve got to go out and shoot 10 threes a game. I’ve got to be ball dominant.’
‘‘No, I’ve been in the league this long being who I’ve been. So anytime I step on the court, it’s about playing hard, being competitive, trying to lead the team the way I can. You got to focus on the Bulls and how can we get wins, how can we get better.”
Training room
Rookie Dailyn Swain, dealing with soreness, was unavailable against the Celtics, Splitter said.
“We decided to not have him playing, nothing serious,” Splitter said of Swain, who was not in the rotation mix anyway this season.
Claxton continued ramping up his activity during the morning shootaround, and the hope remained of getting him in practices on this road trip.