Bulls lose to Wizards, as Patrick Williams still tries to find his way

WASHINGTON — Forward Patrick Williams is still conflicted about his exact role with the Bulls. And it’s an inner fight he seems to be losing.

The No. 4 overall pick of 2020 told the Sun-Times on Friday that while he doesn’t follow social media or care much about what fans think of him, he’s starting to feel the mounting pressure of playing with All-Stars such as Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan and doesn’t quite know where he fits in.

He wasn’t much of a factor in the Bulls’ win over the Heat in the season opener, nor in Friday’s 102-100 loss to the Wizards, in which he had seven points and a rebound in 24 minutes.

So where? That’s what Williams, 21, is trying to figure out.

“I definitely feel it,” he said. “As a player, you know when you play well. . . . Anybody can get the ball and score, but I think it’s tough when you want to win and you play with stars — it’s tough. You’ve got to find different spots that you usually don’t have to find, offensive rebounds, transition, things like that. That’s where I think I have to find my buckets, just being aggressive.”

Williams has at times shown an ability to score in bunches, such as when he put up 35 points against the Timberwolves in the finale last season. But that came with DeRozan, LaVine and Nikola Vucevic all sitting out.

“In those games those guys weren’t playing, there were obviously more touches to go around,” Williams said. “That’s not a knock on those guys, because they are who they are. They’re All-Stars, and we need them to get going in order for us to be really good, but it’s just a total different dynamic when those guys are playing and when they’re not. That’s with any team.”

Well, almost any team. Williams acknowledged that 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey, who came from his draft class, seems to have figured out how to play alongside All-Stars Joel Embiid and James Harden while still making an impact himself. That’s the path Williams is trying to navigate. But in 28 minutes against the Heat, he had just four points on six shots, with two rebounds. In the follow-up against the Wizards, he showed some early aggressiveness, attempting a three-pointer 90 seconds into the game. But in his 14 minutes in the first half, he had just three points, not a single rebound or assist and a minus-9 in plus/minus.

The Wizards’ Kyle Kuzma, whom Williams was defending, hit back-to-back threes to start the third quarter, forcing coach Billy Donovan into a timeout just 51 seconds into the half with the Bulls’ deficit up to 12.

That deficit grew to 17 before it was again time to lean on one of the All-Stars. DeRozan scored six points in the third quarter and another 12 in the fourth, finishing with a game-high 32 after scoring 37 in the opener.

It still wasn’t enough. After Bradley Beal gave the Wizards (2-0) a two-point lead with a contested bank shot with 7.4 seconds left, DeRozan attempted what would have been the game-winning three from the top of the arc but missed.

DeRozan said he was looking to get downhill and try to draw a foul or a plus-one.

“[But] I couldn’t turn the corner, so I just sized him up, tried to get the best look possible,” he said. “It felt great.”

Williams finished with a minus-23, the worst of the Bulls. And his search for his place with the team continues.

“I’ve been talking to them about it and trying to figure it out,” he said. “I’m totally confident we will. Specifically, because of the player I know I am.”