Devin Vassell saw NBA potential in Patrick Williams from day one.
“The first time I (saw) him play, I thought he could go No. 1, honestly,” Vassell said. “He has the talent. He has the physique. He has the mindset.”
A year ago, Vassell was the best player at Florida State. Williams was the hot new recruit, fresh off his 18th birthday, looking to fit in but inevitably standing out.
“He was always in the gym,” Vassell said after becoming the 11th pick by San Antonio. “I’d get into the gym, and he’s either just now getting there or just now leaving, or he’s in the workout with me. He goes in, and he works on his shot. Some people might question if he can shoot, he works on his shot all the time. He gets to the basket. I mean, there’s weaknesses, of course, but he thrives on getting better at all of them. He puts in the hours in the gym, and I just see it.”
When the Bulls selected Williams fourth in the NBA Draft, they showed the world how much they saw in him, too. He was the fastest-rising player and, for some, the most surprising selection. Only in the week leading up to Wednesday’s draft, delayed five months by the coronavirus pandemic, did projections start pegging Williams as a top-five pick. Most mock drafts penciled him in as a lottery pick. But a top-five selection was seen as a reach. Until it wasn’t.
“I just think that the more study you do on Patrick, the more you realize that this is what the NBA is today,” Bulls EVP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas said. “We need players in our league that can play multiple positions. He’s able to do that.”
Hardcore fans had a few days to dig into Williams as he became the rumored selection early in the week. On draft night, however, casual fans couldn’t conceive how the Bulls used the fourth selection on Williams, who didn’t start a game at Florida State and averaged only 22.5 minutes. A day later, ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser embodied the bewilderment shared by those unfamiliar with Williams, who turned 19 in August, the youngest-born American player in this year’s class.
“They picked a guy who didn’t even start for Florida State,” Kornheiser said on “Pardon the Interruption.” “The No. 4 pick in the draft, and the kid was on the bench. Only two things are possible. It’s either the worst draft pick in history, or every coach at Florida State should be fired. Because it’s unbelievable that they had a kid who went No. 4 and didn’t even play.”
Florida State went 26-5 and won the ACC regular-season championship before the college basketball was suspended. Four of the Seminoles’ losses were by five points or fewer. Williams earned conference sixth man of the year honors. As unorthodox as it sounds, it was a winning formula.
“Eventually, everything ended up how it’s supposed to,” Williams said. “I just focused on hard work, making sure I’m in the gym and making sure whatever team takes me I’m ready.”
Karnisovas said the Bulls were prepared to select in June, referring to the team’s preparations given that the selection order wasn’t determined until August. But with five additional months of due diligence, Williams won out.
“The more we were digging in his background and we were able to see him, that’s how we came to our decision that that’s our guy,” Karnisovas said.
The Bulls loved Williams’ physical attributes: his 6-foot-8 height, his chiseled 225-pound frame, his near 7-foot wingspan, his huge hands and his athleticism. They also appreciated his style, how he fulfilled any role and defended as if his life depended on it.
But long before any of that was seen at Florida State, Karnisovas was impressed with how Williams played point guard for three years in high school. An 8-inch growth spurt shot Williams to his current height. But he never lost his playmaking skills. Karnisovas now calls Williams’ ballhandling “very underrated,” disagreeing with any assertion he’s merely a raw athlete rather than a skilled player.
“We watch a ton of interviews even prior to college,” Karnisovas said. “To get a player, just turned 19 in August, to be at that level of maturity at this point and willingness to learn, it’s hard to find.”
Williams enrolled in college at 17. His commitment, however, quickly caught coach Leonard Hamilton’s attention.
“The most impressive thing about Patrick was the mindset that he brought with him to Florida State,”
Hamilton told reporters on the eve of the draft. “Obviously being a leader on his high school team, he had a pretty good reputation coming into Florida State. Most of the time that level of success will allow you to come in with maybe an air of confidence that you’ve accomplished something. That’s not what Patrick did. Patrick came in wanting to make sure he played hard and that he defended.
“He wanted to be in great condition, he wanted to defend, and he wanted to learn how to play hard every possession, which in high school, sometimes it’s hard to do that because you can’t force getting into foul trouble for your high school team to win. That’s the reason he is where he is because he brought an unselfish spirit. He wasn’t worried about starting. He wasn’t worried about how many minutes he played. He wanted to be a great teammate, he wanted to learn, he wanted to grow. He allowed himself to be coached.”
Hamilton recalled seeing Williams many times after practice working with reserve forward Wyatt Wilkes. The two would walk through each position, Hamilton said, with Wilkes, a high-IQ redshirt sophomore, quizzing the talented freshman.
“He was eager to learn,” Hamilton said. “Pat would ask questions. That’s not a highly-recognized, brass, confident, cocky guy coming into a program. That’s a guy who was humble, attentive, and he immersed himself into the program. He wanted to be part of the success of the program, and not necessarily wanted to be the star of the program, he just wanted to help win.
“His attitude I think was at such a wholesome level, that it has allowed him to function without the pressure of having some place that he felt he had to be. He was confident he was a good enough player. He had not talked about (being a lottery pick). That had not been his primary purpose. That mindset allowed him to be in the right mindset to flourish.”
Williams got better as the season went on, playing his best ball at the end of the season. A dominant offensive rebounder, Williams pulled down at least one in 21 of his 29 games. Over his final nine, he snagged two a game. He also more than doubled his free-throw rate in the final third of the season, improving from 1.7 per game in his first 19 contests to 4.2 per game in his final nine contests. Both illustrate his potential for growth and explain why the Bulls believe Williams has substantial upside.
“I saw growth during the year, and he was taking more and more responsibility,” Karnisovas said. “He became more aggressive, took more charge, attacked the basket more, shot the ball better.”
Williams didn’t seem bothered by coming off the bench. He said he embraced the role.
“It just taught me to do my part and do it well,” he said.
Williams will approach his rookie season the same way.
“In the NBA, it’s all about roles,” he said. “Everybody can’t be a LeBron James from day one, or a Michael Jordan from day one. You’ve got to embrace your role and then do your role well. And then you’re trusted with more.”
It wouldn’t have been wise for the Bulls to place expectations on Williams. But if you’re wondering whether the team thinks he possesses star potential, consider this from Karnisovas.
“Hopefully we’re never going to be in this situation again and pick that high,” he said. “This was the opportunity to get it right because the projection of players picked in the top five is much higher. It drops significantly afterward. We wanted to get it right. And Patrick was our guy.”
(Photo: Nathaniel S. Butler / NBAE via Getty Images)
now I'm intrigued
