Bulls forward Patrick Williams continues his slow evolution

The No. 4 overall pick in the 2020 draft knows his development hasn’t happened as quickly as many would have liked, but he won’t apologize for that. He is improving, and now it’s about taking the next step in his game.

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Bulls forward Patrick Williams guards the Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell during a game on Jan. 2.

Bulls forward Patrick Williams guards the Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell during a game on Jan. 2.

Ron Schwane/AP

Bulls power forward Patrick Williams isn’t going to develop at the rate that anyone first expected.

But Williams, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2020 draft, won’t apologize for that. Because in his mind, he thinks he’s starting to get it.

More important, his teammates are starting to get him.

‘‘I’m just maturing in this league,’’ Williams said in the wake of the Bulls’ victory Wednesday against the Nets. ‘‘That [wrist] surgery last year cost me, what, [65] games? But where it cost me was the experience, playing. So I’m trying to learn on the fly and get better.

‘‘And, to be honest with you, I’m enjoying this maturation process. Maybe not everyone else is enjoying how quickly it’s happening, but my mindset has changed a lot lately, and I feel like so has the mindset of my teammates.’’

That’s the trust Williams has been building — the trust that he not only will be a shotmaker but a shot-taker.

If there has been one major knock against Williams, it was that he had too many ‘‘Passive Pat’’ moments. Since last season, coach Billy Donovan and the Bulls’ veterans have harped on Williams about trusting his scoring ability and being more aggressive.

Since early December, however, the Bulls have made a more conscious effort to run sets and actions to get Williams the ball — either for a corner three-pointer or going downhill — off the tip.

To Williams’ credit, he finally is taking advantage of that.

While his scoring average since Dec. 1 is still a pedestrian 10.5 points per game, almost half of that comes in the first quarter. Williams is averaging 4.5 points on 60.8% shooting from the field and 64.7% shooting from three-point range in the first quarter.

That includes a season-best 12 points in the first quarter Wednesday, a game in which he finished with a season-high 22 points in his most complete effort of the season.

‘‘Whether it’s been me just being more aggressive or Coach actually drawing up a couple of plays for me or my teammates finding me in the actions we have, it’s kind of been a combination of all those,’’ Williams said of his mindset in the first quarter. ‘‘Now it’s about building off of that.’’

There’s a list of skills Williams needs to improve on, and you can put rebounding right at the top. But a lot of things will be solved when he starts understanding how to read the game. That’s what Donovan has been stressing to him.

During the last few weeks, there have been specific plays Donovan has pointed to as examples of Williams still not understanding how to read the game. The missed box-out Monday on Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell’s overtime-forcing basket off a missed free throw — lane violation or not — was one of them. So was a missed opportunity to take advantage of Bucks big man Brook Lopez on a two-on-one break last week.

‘‘If you look at guys like [forward] DeMar [DeRozan], for instance, a lot of times he’s surveying the game in terms of how he’s being guarded,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘When you put [Williams] in stuff and tell him, ‘Hey, this is what we’re doing,’ he’s really good. But the flow of the game is what he’s got to figure out: ‘OK, this is who is guarding me, this is the coverage they’re in, this will be open, this is how I’ve got to screen, this is how I’ve got to pop.’ It’s when the scouting report is off the table and it’s random stuff that just happens and you’ve got to just react to it.’’

Williams is confident he’ll get there.

At his own pace, of course.

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