Chicago Bulls star lands on NBA’s most overpaid list

The Chicago Bulls have a few hefty contracts on the books: Nikola Vucevic ($20 million AAV), Patrick Williams ($20 million), Zach Collins ($17.4 million), and Kevin Huerter ($16.25 million). Josh Giddey will presumably top the list soon at somewhere between $25 and $30 million. Out of all of them, Williams is the worst, and he ranks among the worst in the entire NBA, according to one analyst.

NBA analyst puts Chicago Bulls star on overpaid list

It’s hard to argue with anyone being more overpaid than Patrick Williams at this point. The forward does little to nothing good on the basketball court, and he’s making $18 million per season for it. His total $90 million salary is pretty awful, too.

He landed on Bleacher Report analyst Dan Favale’s list alongside Terry Rozier, Jalen Green, Joel Embiid, and Jerami Grant. Williams makes almost 12% of the salary cap, but he does not provide even remotely comparable value to the Chicago Bulls.

“Pointing toward Patrick Williams’ 39.2 percent career clip from three disproves nothing. He doesn’t take enough of them to be considered a floor-spacer. His defense is serviceable. It’s not out-of-this-world,” Favale wrote. None of that equals $18 million.

“The 24-year-old is not a standout rebounder or foul-drawer, can’t shoulder higher usage, won’t set up looks for others, and has ranked in the 23rd and 13th percentiles, respectively, in points per shot attempt over the past two years,” Favale wrote, continuing to paint an ugly picture.

Favale wrote that “unspectacular” might be the nicest way to describe Williams. “And even that is being too generous. Among the 141 players who have logged at least as many minutes since he entered the league, he ranks 138th in Basketball-Reference’s Value Over Replacement Player Metric,” he noted.

The only thing Williams has going for him is a moderately low salary. For example, Paul George and his nearly $52 million salary are also emblematic of an overpaid player, but within one season, a team would be so much better off with George and his salary than with Williams and his. “You’re better off rolling with a veteran not far removed from making an All-Star Game who’s proven he can leave an actual imprint on the court,” the analyst concluded.