Chicago Bulls Draft Noa Essengue with No. 12 Pick

At Wednesday’s 2025 NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls made yet another lottery pick just a year removed from taking forward Matas Buzelis, further strengthening the youth on their squad.

With the No. 12 pick, Chicago gambled on Noa Essengue.

A French forward with tremendous upside, Essengue has experience playing at the professional level. In fact, he left his team still in the playoffs to come be part of the 2025 NBA Draft ceremony. He has the size of a jumboo forward and a modern skillset that will slot nicely int Chicago's system.

Having mostly off-loaded their older core over the last year — including Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and now two-time champion Alex Caruso — the Bulls are looking to add youth in any capacity, and did just that Wednesday. 

The team has an interesting dynamic, having drafted a promising player in Buzelis, along with an interesting guard rotations of Josh Giddey, Coby White and more.

As it stands now, Chicago is one of the freshest “rebuilding” teams in the league. Still, with some proven talent and a now wide-open Eastern Conference due to injuries, they should be able to make somewhat of a splash. Or in the least, be a fun team to watch.

Per an earlier scouting report from NBA Draft on SI: The French prospect can handle the ball well for his size, but sometimes gets caught up trying to do too much on his own. The natural ability to handle is there, but the processing and decision-making needs to improve, especially as it relates to finding teammates while handling on the move. Even then, Essengue is still a good positional passer despite being turnover-prone at times. None of these things are all that concerning given his age and the level of competition he plays against, especially since he’s such a tall player who is still developing. 

Chicago also has the No. 45 pick in the second round, which will take place tomorrow. The next major milestone in the NBA offseason will be the 2025 NBA 2K25 Summer League held in Las Vegas, NV, which will take place from July 10-20.