Bulls reportedly extend qualifying offer to Patrick Williams

With the NBA Draft scheduled for Wednesday night and free agency beginning later this weekend, the Chicago Bulls have been cleaning house.

According to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, the team extended a qualifying offer to Patrick Williams. The move officially makes him a restricted free agent before June 30. The deadline to extend the offer to Williams was this Saturday.

Patrick Williams extended qualifying offer

To be clear, this should come as no surprise to anyone. Had the Bulls not extended him that offer, the 22-year-old would have become an unrestricted free agent. In other words, Williams would have complete control of his own destiny instead of the Bulls having the opportunity to match any offer from another team. So we’re talking about a pretty standard protocol here.

Still, this is an important decision that needed to be made, and the number on this qualifying offer is not something to ignore. The deal lasts one year and is worth approximately $13.0 million. Wiliams could choose to accept this deal if he doesn’t like any of the offers given to him. He would then be able to benefit from unrestricted free agency NEXT offseason and have a full say in his future.

Do I expect this to happen? No, especially since there are a handful of cap space teams that I think would drive up the price and convince Williams to sign. But it is possible that the proposed AAV will not be that much higher than the qualifying offer, which could always lead the young person to bet on himself.

Chicago has until June 30 at 5:00 p.m. CT to reach an agreement with Patrick Williams before other parties can get involved. If they can’t, Williams can start signing his opponents’ offers as early as July 1.

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