Bleacher Report Mocks Raptors Selecting Noa Essengue With No. 9 Pick

The 2025 NBA Draft is over a month away, leaving the Toronto Raptors plenty of time to mull their options.

Unfortunately, Toronto found themselves on the wrong side of luck in the draft lottery.

In what felt like an inevitable No. 7 pick or even move a few spots, the Raptors fell to No. 9. Thankfully, that fall was not hurtful with the current talent on the roster already.

While these results are disappointing, Toronto could find a valuable prospect to plug into their bench unit.

That being said, there will be a deep dive on the talent available to match their needs. Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman has them going big by selecting forward Noa Essengue.

Essengue is an overseas project, an 18-year-old from France and appears to be a quality slasher. Wasserman points to his off-rim runs, cuts and offensive rebounds leading to a majority of his production.

On-ball creation is becoming an area of development for Essengue as he learns what it takes to score on his terms. The pro comparison that was given was Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant.

An interesting comparison, as Essengue possesses the traits to become a lengthy, multi-positional defender. Also worth mentioning is that this pick would fit the ideologies of president Masai Ujiri.

Becoming a team with countless youthful forwards is a fun preposition and Esssengue can learn from Brandon Ingram as both share a lean frame. However, Ingram learned to become an effective scorer despite not being the most muscular.

Nonetheless, Essengue can provide an intriguing perspective to Toronto’s bench next year.

Noa Essengue’s overseas production

As an 18-year-old, Noa Essengue displayed plenty of upside this season internationally for Ratiopharm Ulm.

He saw a near 10-point per game leap from last season, along with a near five rebound improvement and slightly improved shooting. He shot 56 percent from the field and 29.4 percent from 3-point range.

In totality, Essengue averaged 12.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.4 steals in 18 games, averaging 23.7 minutes a contest.