The Bulls’ roster is evolving. It’s too early to say what — is this a genuine rebuild or another half effort? — but this team is getting younger and more athletic with additions like 21-year-old Josh Giddey and just-drafted Matas Buzelis. Meanwhile, it appears 34-year-old DeMar DeRozan is about to walk in free agency.
Patrick Williams is part of that future. Williams and the Bulls have agreed to a five-year, $90 million extension for Williams to stay with Chicago, a story broken by Shams Charania of the Athletic and confirmed by K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.
This new contract, averaging $18 million a season, splits the difference between what the Bulls offered before last season ($16 million a season) and what Williams wanted at more than $20 million a year, Johnson noted at NBC Sports. As the cap rises quickly over the coming years as the league’s new television deal kicks in, this contract will be closer to mid-level exception money than the starter-level money it is now.
Williams averaged 10 points and 3.9 rebounds a game, shooting 39.9% from 3 in 27 minutes a night for Chicago last season — all numbers that are in line with his career averages. Williams also missed the second half of the season after undergoing surgery for a stress reaction in his left foot. On draft night, team vice president and decision maker Arturas Karnisovas said Williams is healing well, and he was “planning to be ready for training camp.”
Williams fits with a younger new core that includes Giddey, Coby White, Buzelis, Ayo Dosunmu and others.
This signing keeps Williams out of restricted free agency, but is just one step in Chicago reworking its roster. The next big step is the team’s attempts to trade veteran wing Zach LaVine this offseason, but the market for him continues to be lukewarm. Chicago is hoping that changes as free agency and the NBA’s offseason play out, teams that miss out on guys like Paul George could have interest in an All-Star wing scorer like LaVine at that point.
