3 New Year’s resolutions for the Chicago Bulls organization
Patrick Williams must increase his 3-point attempts in 2023 for the Chicago Bulls to find sustained success.
Easily the Chicago Bulls’ best 3-point shooter this side of Zach LaVine, Patrick Williams must take more threes going forward. More often than not, Patrick Williams will catch the ball at the 3-point line, pump fake, take two steps inside, and launch a mid-range jumper.
While I love that Patrick is showing more of a willingness to put the ball on the floor, right now what this team needs from him is to knock down as many threes as he can. If he’s gonna put the ball on the floor it should be to drive it using his size and finish at the rim or find another open shooter.
Patrick Williams currently averages 1.3 threes made per game on 3.3 attempts – a 40.9 shooting percentage. This makes him statistically the best 3-point shooter on the Bulls, and the Chicago Bulls in 2023 need to see if increasing his volume comes with a proportional increase in made threes.
As the fourth overall pick in the draft two years ago, Patrick Williams needs to embrace more of a spotlight role and accountability for this team’s performance. Till now, it’s been unclear where he fits in as much of the offense is centered around the big 3. However, the need for shooting is one he can fill and is a step he must take going forward to start living up to his draft pedigree.
The Chicago Bulls are last in three-pointers attempted per game, and if they aren’t hitting their threes, they are often at risk of getting easily outscored by their opponent. With shooting the high valued commodity it is for this team, exploring whether or not Patrick Williams can sustain his shooting averages with more touches should be of key importance going into 2023.
Zach LaVine must continue to stay the course in 2023 for the Chicago Bulls to flip the narrative.
Since the meltdown in Minnesota, the Chicago Bulls have successfully quieted the storm – or at least temporarily forced everyone to press pause on blowing them up. A big part of that has been the play of Zach LaVine.
Zach LaVine has been playing quicker, smarter, and more intensely on the defensive end in these past 6 games (Bulls are 5-1), and it’s paid dividends for the team. In the last 6 games, he’s averaged 27.5 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists on 54% shooting from the field and 46% shooting from 3.
His play has been the catalyst for a number of close Bulls wins including buzzer-beater wins against Atlanta and New York, and also a big late fourth-quarter comeback versus Milwaukee. He finally appears to look like his old all-star self, and that’s a great sign for the Chicago Bulls.
The Chicago Bulls, with or without Lonzo Ball, have the pieces needed to compete in the East. This isn’t a team with actual championship aspirations, but they definitely have the horses to push the top teams and complicate some playoff series. Zach LaVine’s play is a huge part of that.
Going into 2023, Zach LaVine needs to continue showing that he can play as he has been playing the past 6 games, and if he does not only will all his critics be silenced, but the Chicago Bulls will turn into the perennial playoff team they have the ability to become.