Chicago Bulls rookie Noa Essengue’s Summer League earns praise

Noa Essengue was the talk of Summer League, but only because the Chicago Bulls rookie got dunked on by Johnny Furphy. It was a highlight-reel play at Essengue’s expense, and he was the laughingstock of the league momentarily.

But lost in all of that is a steady growth. Essengue looked rough in his first game and admitted he needed to get better at everything. So he did. He recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in 19 minutes. He then scored 21 points on 50% from the field.

“To be sure, Essengue’s offensive game remains a complete wild card. But he has shown an increasing understanding of how he can use his length to make plays. He can get a clean look over the top of most defenders, and he sure does not need to take many steps to find his way into the paint,” Bleacher Nation insider Elias Schuster said.

Plus, Schuster noted, Essengue is young enough that all he really needs to display is a lack of timidness. If he’s not afraid to shoot, attack, or defend, then that’s a good sign. Through it all, that is exactly what Essengue has displayed for the Bulls.

“Entering the league with major question marks around his jumper, he did not hesitate to chuck up eight attempts from downtown on Monday night,” Schuster added. “As off-target as some of those were, he still drained three and flashed a workable jumper. Heck, even the embarrassing photo of him getting posterized by Johnny Furphy or the brainfart of him knocking a ball off the rim for a goaltend (you can only do that in Europe!) says a lot about his overall mindset. The guy will try to make a big play on both ends.”

Right now, all the Bulls can ask is that Essengue work hard and give effort to both playing and getting better, and so far he’s done that with aplomb.