The Chicago Bulls are absolutely stuck with a massive mistake, according to Pippen Ain’t Easy. It’s gotta be painful watching Patrick Williams struggle, especially when you see what they could’ve had. The team handed him a five-year, $90 million contract extension, and honestly? That money is looking like a straight-up anchor around the franchise’s neck.
The Brutal Reality of a Massive Missed Opportunity
The worst part is, the recent news about the 2020 NBA Draft just twists the knife. Tim MacMahon from The Hoop Collective dropped the bomb that some folks in the Bulls’ own front office actually wanted to draft Tyrese Haliburton at number four. Instead, Artūras Karnišovas went with Williams. Talk about a gut punch when you realize you passed on an absolute star. Haliburton didn’t just get good, he became an elite force. The guy led the entire league in assists during the 2023-24 season! Not only that, he actually helped the Indiana Pacers make it to the 2025 NBA Finals. Meanwhile, the Bulls haven’t even sniffed the Conference Finals since way back in 2011. That massive gap in success? Yeah, that’s a direct result of some seriously questionable drafting. The talent difference between those two is just staggering.
The Price Tag of Poor Decisions Is Crushing Them
While Haliburton is out there winning big games, Williams is seeing his role shrink. His playing time has literally dropped in each of the last three seasons. Last season, 2025-26, he was only playing 20.5 minutes per game. And to make it even worse, he shot under 40 percent from the field, which he’s done twice in two years. But the money, man, the money is the real nightmare right now. The Bulls still owe Williams $54 million over the next three years! It’s gonna be incredibly tough to trade a player with those kinds of stats and that much cash on the books. Seriously, what team wants to take on that kind of financial burden? Brian Windhorst even noted that the previous leadership stayed put just long enough to secure that massive $90 million extension for Williams. Now, the team has to figure out how to deal with the messy fallout of that choice. They’ve got room for guys like Caleb Wilson and Matas Buzelis, but they are clearly still missing that elite talent a player like Haliburton brings to the court.
The front office is trying to move forward, no doubt, but that foundation feels shaky. With $54 million still owed to Williams and the obvious talent gap staring them down, this is a mess they’ll be trying to clean up for a long, long time.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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