(670 The Score) Bulls forward Patrick Williams will soon undergo surgery to repair torn ligaments in his left wrist and will miss four to six months, the team announced Friday afternoon.
Williams suffered the injury while landing hard after being flagrantly fouled on a dunk attempt in the third quarter of an eventual 104-103 loss to the Knicks on Thursday evening. He stayed in the game to hit a pair of free throws before exiting shortly thereafter.
If Williams returns on the front end of his timetable, he could be back in late February or early March and contribute as the Bulls come out of the All-Star break. If it takes him six months to recover, that would push his return to late April, which would approximately mark the end of the first round of the playoffs. The expectation is that Williams will miss the remainder of the regular season, ESPN reported earlier Friday. The Bulls conclude their regular season on April 10.
The loss of Williams is a huge blow to the Bulls, as he's their most promising young player and the starting power forward on a team thin on depth at that position. Even before Williams' injury, the Bulls played small ball for key stretches. The 6-foot-5 Javonte Green and the 6-foot-6 Derrick Jones Jr. will be counted on to fill bigger roles with Williams out, coach Billy Donovan told reporters after practice Friday. Jones has been out of the Bulls' rotation to start the season, appearing in just one of their five games.
Donovan acknowledged Williams suffered a "pretty significant" wrist injury but didn't share an official timeline for his return, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago reported.
Williams, 20, was averaging 6.6 points and 2.2 rebounds in five games this season. He averaged 9.2 points and 4.6 rebounds as a rookie last season. The Bulls selected Williams at No. 4 overall in the 2020 NBA Draft.
The Bulls are 4-1 and host the undefeated Utah Jazz on Saturday evening at the United Center.
