The Patrick Williams Debate: Choosing Between Three Bad Options

As the season winds down and Chicago faces a summer that could have a thousand different outcomes in terms of roster, front office status, head coach uncertainty, and potentially franchise-altering draft choices, one name has slid under the radar for far too long. Patrick Williams is the most disappointing Chicago Bull of this decade, and potentially the biggest draft bust in the organization’s illustrious history. Three top-five picks from 2000-2006 were similarly terrible in Chicago, but they weren’t granted extensions to continue proving how lackluster the choice truly was. In Williams’ case, he’s had six seasons, is under contract for three more, and has only regressed throughout his NBA career. How do the Bulls get out from under his lucrative deal, and should this be a defining failure of Arturas Karnisovas?

Short Answer: There’s No Easy Way Out

All Bulls fans can agree that the former Florida State Seminole has been a nightmare in Chicago. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as just cutting him from the team. This would create $18 million in dead cap over the next three seasons. Instead, the easiest route is to convince an opposing club that this is a 24-year-old player with upside that simply needs a scene reset. At this price, it’s a gamble for any other franchise to absorb a player who cannot earn minutes on one of the worst rosters leaguewide, has shown little to no improvement in six years, and who, at $54 million total left on his deal, is a long-term commitment. Assuming that Karnisovas tried his best to dump the overpriced forward at this year’s deadline, it’s a fair assessment to admit there are no willing suitors.

Patrick Williams has already made about $68 million in his NBA career — roughly $32M on his rookie deal + ~$36M through two years of his new contract.

And he’s still owed $54M over the next 3 years. pic.twitter.com/G7uLczoekF

— See Red Fred (@cbefred) March 28, 2026

When it’s said and done, AK will have paid over $120 million for a player that averaged a career-low 6.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 19.7 minutes per contest while shooting an abysmal 38.1% from the floor this year. Drafting and extending this player should tell the Chicago ownership group all they need to know regarding his roster-building and player-evaluating capabilities, or lack thereof.

The Only Logical Solution: Waive And Stretch His Contract

The lone remaining solution after tricking someone into trading for the overpriced forward is to waive the player and stretch his contract. With this provision, the NBA allows a team to waive the player, and instead of the burden of a flat-rate dead-cap contract for his remaining years of guaranteed money, double the number of years and add one. In the case of Williams, this would mean taking his $54 million in fully guaranteed money left and, instead of the $18 million annual commitment from Chicago, they’d owe him $7.7 million until 2033.

The problem isn’t that Patrick Williams is a bust.

Teams draft busts all the time. It’s a part of the game. The issue is giving him a massive contract after seeing that he’s a bust.

Then doubling down and keeping him as a starter over Matas Buzelis. pic.twitter.com/EsDnlwcl9u

— Die-Hard Chicago Bulls Fans (@Bullsfans) January 26, 2025

Is adding dead cap better than trotting out this depreciated asset night after night and continually being disappointed? He’s not contributing to winning basketball, the front office has found similarly terrible ways to spend $8 million each year, and if they can’t find a trade partner, this might be the only solution left.

Take your pick: Commit to the next three years at a $18 million price tag and then move on, find a trade partner even if you have to add draft stock or other assets simply to dump him, or waive and defer his contract and create a financial burden for the next decade?

Whatever the answer, don’t let the predicament distract you from the loudest message here: Karnisovas not only drafted him fourth overall, but inked him to a 5-year, $90 million extension, and should be fired for those two moves alone.