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Bulls
The Bulls have waited years for Patrick Williams to take off, writes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
They’ve cleared the runway, rebuilt the hangar, and even given him a five-year, $90 million contract. But entering his sixth season, Chicago is still waiting for liftoff.
Williams finished with eight points and three rebounds in Thursday’s 119-112 preseason win over the Cavaliers. Afterward, coach Billy Donovan didn’t sugarcoat it.
“When you talk to Patrick, he’s a guy that assumes responsibility,” Donovan said, via Cowley. “There’s a certain amount of runway you end up having, and that runway kind of ends, and it’s like, ‘OK, you’ve got to step up.’”
To Williams’ credit, he came into camp in better shape, looking leaner and more focused.
Still, Matas Buzelis took his starting job last season, and Isaac Okoro was brought in this summer to fill the defensive role Williams once owned.
He was 11th in the rotation for the opener and seventh on Thursday, though Chicago was short-handed.
Donovan believes the physical tools are there — it’s the consistent drive that remains the question.
“He can carve out a really good niche for himself,” Donovan said. “He’s really good defensively. But can he play with a consistent motor? That comes from within.”
Rockets
If you ask Kendrick Perkins, Houston’s offense could be about to explode.
“I believe they’re gonna be the best offensive team in the league,” Perkins said on ESPN’s NBA Today.
It’s a bold statement, but the Rockets have made a strong early case.
In their first game with Kevin Durant in uniform, they poured in 140 points and racked up 32 assists, 68 paint points and 13 dunks.
Durant scored 20 on 70 percent shooting in just 23 minutes, while young standouts Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengun flashed two-way potential.
Perkins even went a step further, calling Thompson a future challenger to Victor Wembanyama as the league’s best two-way player.
That’s lofty talk for a team that finished middle of the pack offensively last season.
But if Durant stays healthy and Houston’s young core continues to rise, the Rockets might just make Perkins look prophetic.
Nets
The Nets are calling it what it is, and it is a rebuild, writes Brian Lewis of the New York Post.
“We’re in a rebuilding year,” owner Joe Tsai said during a recent event. “We spent all of our [2025] picks — we had five first-round picks this past summer. We have one pick in 2026, and we hope to get a good pick.”
That’s as clear a tank declaration as you’ll hear from an owner. Brooklyn’s roster features three teenagers and 14 players under 25.
Rookies Egor Demin, Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf will form the foundation.
Wolf, 21, said the team is embracing its youth.
“We know what we’re playing for,” he said, via Lewis. “It’s about proving ourselves right more than proving people wrong. We’re the youngest team in the NBA, and we just want to keep learning and growing together.”
The Nets face the Suns next in Macao, a fittingly far-flung location for a team just starting its long climb back to relevance.
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