W. Charlotte star Patrick Williams says his dreams are bigger than being a lottery pick

Former West Charlotte High All-American Patrick Williams is officially a pro.

The 6-foot-9, 230-pound forward was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the number 4 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft on Wednesday night. Prior to Wednesday, there had been four Charlotte players to ever go in the top 10: Stephen Curry was No. 7 in 2009; Antawn Jamison No. 4 in 1998; Walter Davis No. 5 in 1977; and Bobby Jones was No. 5 in 1974.

Williams joined that list after becoming one of the most sought after players in this draft with his stock rising over the past week. But Williams doesn’t want the high point of his story to be that he was perhaps the surprise of the 2020 draft.

Not even close.

“I can’t really say too much, but I just know my dreams are bigger than draft night,” he said. “I think I’d rather show you what those dreams are rather than tell you right now. I’m just ready to get to Chicago and get to work on those dreams.”

In Chicago, Williams will play with another N.C. native, point guard Coby White, and said White provided a lot of help and advice on navigating the draft process. White, a former star at North Carolina, was a lottery pick in 2019.

“I’ve definitely talked to Coby a lot,” Williams said, “not per se about Chicago, but just about the process, the pre-draft process, what to expect from the NBA. We’ve talked I would say every other day since the day I declared for the draft. He’s been a big help. Just being a rookie last year, just talking about the things that he’s went through, the things that he’s learned, and just when I get there I’m ready to learn more from him and learn more from the other guys, from the coaching staff.

Two years ago, Williams was a senior at West Charlotte High School and led the Lions to the N.C. 4A championship game. After a freshman season at Florida State where he was ACC Sixth Man of the year, Williams declared for the draft and was initially seen as a mid first round pick.

He began to rise as NBA scouts favorably compared his game to Golden State forward Draymond Green. Like Green, Williams can play — and defend — all five positions on the floor.

“I had Williams sort of in the 15-to-20 range at the end of the (college basketball) season,” ESPN’s Jay Bilas said, “but the more you watch of him on tape, the more you’re going, ‘He’s just scratching the surface of how good he’s going to be.’”

Though he was selected No. 4, just spot after his hometown Charlotte Hornets picked LaMelo Ball, Williams said he never considered that Charlotte might take him.

“There’s never really a thought that any team will pick you,” he said. “It all comes by surprise for sure. But I mean, I’m blessed to be going to the Bulls. And you talk about Charlotte, just this whole process, I’ve been getting texts and DMs, and people in my family are just saying how proud they are of me and how the city had my back, and I’m just ready to represent Charlotte and also the Bulls well.”

Devon Dotson is heading home

Devon Dotson, who moved to Charlotte nine years ago, will sign a free agent deal with his hometown Chicago Bulls. He’ll team up with two N.C. natives there -- new Bulls’ lottery pick Patrick Williams and 2019 lottery pick Coby White.

Dotson, a 6-1 point guard who played at Providence Day, was a second team All-American at Kansas last season.

Nate Hinton going back to a familiar state

Former Gaston Day star Nate Hinton played two seasons in Houston before declaring for the NBA draft. Now he’ll go back to Texas. He said on his Instagram live that he will sign a free agent deal with the Dallas Mavericks.

Hinton is a 6-foot-5, 210-pound wing.

Josh Hall heading to the midwest

Undrafted free agent Josh Hall signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder early Thursday morning, hours after the draft ended. A 6-foot-9 wing, Hall committed to N.C. State out of Moravian Prep School in Hickory but decided to skip school and enter the draft.

Charlotte’s Seth Curry traded - to his stepfather’s team

Charlotte’s Seth Curry got a new home on draft night.

The Dallas Mavericks traded Curry to the 76ers for Josh Richardson and the No. 36 pick. In Philadelphia, Curry will play for Doc Rivers, his father in law.

Colorado power forward Tyler Bey was the No. 36 pick Wednesday.

Considered one of the best shooters in the league, Curry averaged 12.4 points and 2.3 rebounds last season. He made 45.2 percent of his 3-point attempts.