The question left Bulls forward Patrick Williams searching for the right words.
“I think you can kind of . . . you know what I mean, kind of, um, just kind of feel how it is right now,” Williams said about his emotions. “It’s a lot at one time to go from thinking you are ramping up to play on Tuesday to a couple of days later having to have surgery. Not easy at all.”
It’s not easy for Williams or his team.
But now both have to move on. Williams is headed for season-ending surgery on his left foot in the next few weeks; the rest of his teammates had a quick practice and were headed off to New Orleans, short-handed and searching for answers.
“I just feel bad,” coach Billy Donovan said. “Obviously, I think he did everything he could to get himself back.”
His foot had other ideas.
On Jan. 25, Williams tried to play through a bum right ankle that eventually turned into a left-foot issue. After that loss in Los Angeles, the pain in the foot became too much. He was shut down and given a window of two to four weeks. Williams started ramping up his activity during the All-Star break, but when a scan was done earlier in the week, a small fracture was discovered.
He could’ve shut it down for another month, then had another scan, but with no promise of the foot healing, the decision was made to have the surgery, rehab the next four months and be ready for a full summer of activity to get ready for 2024-25.
His hope is he’ll still be with the Bulls.
The timing of the injury is a blow for the Bulls as they fight for a play-in spot, but it was more disastrous for Williams, who is headed for restricted free agency this offseason.
All indications were the Bulls were going to let the market bid on him, then decide to match or move on, but now Williams might see much less money coming his way.
“I don’t think anybody knows what their future is, to be honest,” Williams said. “I would love to continue to be a Bull. I love it here. I think I could really be a cornerstone piece for this team. But you never know what the future holds, and I understand it’s a business.
“For now, worry about the surgery and getting back playing, and let the chips fall where they may.”
It was the second major injury for Williams. He had wrist surgery that limited him to 17 games in the 2021-22 season.
Williams, the fourth overall pick in the 2020 draft, was flashing a bit more potential this season until this latest setback.
“This season, I got experience, and that’s all you can ask for,” Williams said. “I think I’m taking a step toward being the player I can be.”
With Williams out and Torrey Craig (sprained right knee) not running or cutting yet, the Bulls will have to go with a frontcourt-by-committee. That’s not ideal, but it’s not exactly anything new.
“I can be a makeshift four for the majority of games,” Alex Caruso said of filling in at power forward. “But it’s going to take more guys, maybe more schemes to get the ball out of some guys’ hands when they catch it close to the basket. If there’s any silver lining, we’ve seen this before because we’ve been short-handed at that position. We at least have a little to go off of.”
