Will Patrick Williams return save Chicago Bulls season?

The injury-depleted Chicago Bulls are skidding, losers of three straight and eight of their last ten prior to Monday night. Reinforcements are coming, though, beginning with forward Patrick Williams.

Williams played against the Toronto Raptors on Monday, five months after the 20-year-old tore ligaments in his left wrist just five games into the season. Williams came off the bench and likely comes with a minutes restriction – he was a starter prior to his injury.

The Bulls arguably miss the talents of Lonzo Ball, and previously Alex Caruso, the most. But Williams’ return to the lineup and the impact it may have on his flailing team can’t be overstated.

Young forward Patrick Williams returned to the Chicago Bulls lineup, setting them up for a second-half surge

Williams averaged 9.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game as a rookie, hitting 39.1 percent of his three-pointers. While it wasn’t the star turn some of his fellow lottery selections took last year, it was enough to earn him Second Team All-Rookie honors.

The sample size at the beginning of this season is too small to really analyze. Williams was averaging 6.6 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. That’s an obvious decline from his previous numbers, but the roster looked a lot different than last season’s, and odds were he wasn’t going to produce better right of the gate until he found his role.

Sure enough, his second season debut was largely a quiet one. Against the Raptors, Williams scored seven points and grabbed two rebounds in the 113-99 victory. He also hit one three-pointer and finished minus-1 for the night, playing 19 minutes.

Again, Williams will probably be limited out of the gate. Billy Donovan will start him off on a minutes restriction before gradually easing him back into a role a player of his caliber can handle during the stretch run of the regular season.

While a wrist injury is significant for an NBA player, it shouldn’t affect Williams’ trademark attribute – his athleticism. Williams will be able to fly around and create confusion on the offensive end and impose his will on the defensive end with his raw physical presence, even if he tries to avoid sticking his left hand into the fray too often.

In his return, while Williams didn’t contribute much to the box score, he did show some quiet confidence in his play. His biggest play of the night involved stealing the ball from Thaddeus Young en route to a breakaway layup.

Speaking of raw, that’s what Williams still is. This is only his second season after being a bench player at Florida State, and he was always going to be a project. While the Bulls have playoff ambitions this season – and Williams should contribute to that – the main focus of his development should still be about his ceiling, not what he can do tomorrow.

Williams appears poised to play on Tuesday night, which should serve as a demonstration of how the Bulls will utilize him. It’s not often a player returning from long-term injury plays in a back-to-back, so that could be a promising sign about how often Williams can be deployed.

Ultimately, Patrick Williams’ return adds valuable depth to the Chicago Bulls at a crucial time for the team. On its own, however, his return isn’t likely to push Chicago back towards the championship status they seemed to hold earlier in the season.