Patrick Williams might not start for the Chicago Bulls — and the 4th-year forward is OK with that: ‘I want to play my game’

Patrick Williams didn’t want to set personal goals for his fourth season with the Chicago Bulls.

The power forward strayed from bold declarations in his first availability during training camp at Belmont University.

What does he want to accomplish? “Win.”

How does he gauge personal success? “Winning.”

Is it important to Williams to be a starter? “I don’t think so.”

DeMar DeRozan was much less shy about his expectations for Williams. In fact, the veteran is prepared to cough up $2,000 to achieve it.

“I’m hoping he get a tech this year,” DeRozan said. “If he get a tech this year — one, I’ll pay it. And two, you’ll see how far he done came.”

Getting a technical foul would require Williams to step outside his comfort zone, which the Bulls have been urging.

Williams’ lack of aggressiveness has been a frustration and a hindrance since his rookie season. And it could cost him a spot in the starting lineup.

Coach Billy Donovan hasn’t committed to starting Williams at power forward, a statement he first made Monday at media day and repeated Tuesday in Nashville.

Donovan always followed up with caveats: hHe wants to keep the rotations fluid, undersized players such as Alex Caruso often make sense against certain opponents and Williams plays well with key members of the secondary unit.

The potential shift inroles wasn’t described as a demotion or an impetus to provoke Williams to improve. And Williams said he didn’t feel it would change his ability to make an impact.

“Obviously every player wants to start,” Williams, 22, said, ”but I want to come in and be able to play my game. That’s part of being a team. You have to trust the people that you’re on the team with. You have to trust the plan they have for you. You may have to sacrifice. It may not be what you want or it may be what you want. But at the end of the day, you have to trust the guys that are in that locker room with you, that have been on a team with you, that represent the Bulls with you.”

But the bottom line is still clear. In Year 4, the Bulls still aren’t sure if Williams fits into the strongest available lineup, creating a clear challenge for the 2020 No. 4 pick. But Williams doesn’t believe losing the starting role would be a reflection of a step backward.

“I don’t think anything’s gone wrong,” Williams said. “I feel extremely, extremely comfortable where I am. I’m not ashamed. I’m actually pretty proud of the steps I’ve taken to get to this point and I think I’ve put myself in a really good position ... to show what I can do.”

Williams slipped out of the starting rotation last season and found more success — albeit with fewer minutes — in a secondary unit with fellow youngsters Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White. The success of that trio is part of Donovan’s desire to utilize more fluid rotations.

It also gave Williams the confidence he could make a similar impact off the bench as with the starting group. He pointed to his collegiate experience at Florida State — where he didn’t start a single game — as an example of finding success through contributions as a reserve.

“My stats there doesn’t match up to the No. 4 pick. It just doesn’t,” Williams said. “But I for sure deserved to be the fourth pick. I truly believe winning takes care of everything.”

The next step for Williams is learning to command attention, both with his playing style and leadership. DeRozan said he urges Williams to speak up more in practices, encouraging the younger forward to get on his teammates and talk trash more willingly.

Like DeRozan, the Bulls coaching staff is focused on putting Williams in positions to succeed. That includes adapting the offense to create more scoring opportunities for Williams.

“They definitely tweaked the offense a bit to where guys — me specifically or other guys that are at the forward — are more involved with the ball in their hands or making plays with the ball in their hands,” Williams said. “So it’s not necessarily I’m a forward. It’s more so being a wing now, which I would like more.”

Williams will have the next three weeks to lock down the starting role before opening night — and then 82 games to defend it.