NBA's Patrick Williams Praises DeMar DeRozan's 5 AM Workouts

Working out at 5 AM sounds like torture, but Chicago Bulls forward Patrick Williams tells TMZ Sports he's actually loving his early sweat sessions with DeMar DeRozan ... praising his teammate for being a great mentor!!

The 14-year vet has enlisted his younger teammates to join him in the gym before the crack of dawn this offseason ... with the 2020 fourth-overall pick being one of those guys.

We caught up with Williams in L.A. this week ... and he said the workouts are going "real well," and he's improving all aspects of his game.

The former Florida State star praised DeRozan as a player and a mentor ... saying, "[There aren't] a lot of guys like him, for sure."

"He doesn't get half of the credit he deserves."

As for his expectations for the upcoming season, Williams has only one thing on his mind.

"Win. That's always the goal. That's the main focus coming in. Obviously, everybody kind of has their personal accolades of what they wanna see but winning takes care of everything. That's always been mine."