{"id":126011,"date":"2025-06-26T10:44:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T10:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/126011\/"},"modified":"2025-06-26T10:44:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T10:44:14","slug":"chicago-bulls-noa-essengue-pick-is-a-perfect-upside-swing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/126011\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Bulls Noa Essengue Pick is a Perfect Upside Swing"},"content":{"rendered":"

After weeks of rumors and anticipation<\/a>, the Chicago Bulls\u2019 pick is in. Choosing to dip their feet in the overseas talent pool, the Bulls have selected French power forward Noa Essengue<\/a> with the 12th overall pick. Despite rumors<\/a> that the Bulls would trade Coby White<\/a> or Lonzo Ball<\/a> before the draft in an attempt to gain draft capital, the Bulls stayed put at 12th. Essengue has one of the upsides in this class and projects to be a perfect fit with the Bulls. Let\u2019s dive into this fit with the Bulls.<\/p>\n

Chicago Bulls Noa Essengue Pick is a Perfect Upside Swing
\n\"\"<\/a>Jun 25, 2025; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Noa Essengue stands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the 12th pick by the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
\nEssengue\u2019s Impact<\/p>\n

Behind Cooper Flagg<\/a>, Essengue is the second youngest player in the 2025 draft class<\/a> at just 18 years old. Essengue spent two seasons playing professionally overseas in the EuroCup league. Playing for the German-based Ratiopharm club, he saw limited minutes in his first season but flashed star potential in year two. Over 18 games, Essengue averaged 12.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game.<\/p>\n

Essengue caught the eye of the Chicago front office with his defensive skills and rim-attacking ability. Essengue averaged a combined 1.9 steals and blocks per game, which ranked as the fifth most<\/a> in the EuroCup last season. When guarding defensive assignments, he relies on his length to contest shots and swipe the ball from the handler. He also excels at using his body to get physical and grab boards, leading to lots of second-chance points. For a Bulls team that ranked 25th<\/a> in offensive rebounds per game last year, Essengue\u2019s ability to get boards at the rim will make an instant impact. Overall Essengue defense and versatility to a shallow Bulls frontcourt.<\/p>\n

Scouts have noted that Essengue\u2019s three-point shooting could be an area of concern. On 34 attempts, Essengue shot an ugly 29.4% from behind the arc last year. However, in a Bulls offense that ranked third in made three-pointers per game with 15.4, Essengue will have lots of room to grow and polish his shooting mechanics. Regardless his upside is undeniable and it\u2019s perfect for the Bulls as they enter a rebuild.<\/p>\n

The Last Word<\/p>\n

With such limited experience due to his young age, Essengue is the definition of a \u201chigh-risk, high-reward\u201d player. Only time will tell if Essengue\u2019s rebounding and defensive skills help him live up to the intriguing hype that allowed the Bulls to take a worthy gamble on him.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Featured image: \u00a9 Brad Penner-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After weeks of rumors and anticipation, the Chicago Bulls\u2019 pick is in. Choosing to dip their feet in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3771],"tags":[30,7,920,919,329,3824,6,2282],"class_list":{"0":"post-126011","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bulls","8":"tag-2025-nba-draft","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-bulls","11":"tag-chicago","12":"tag-chicago-bulls","13":"tag-chicagobulls","14":"tag-nba","15":"tag-noa-essengue"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114749261014089726","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}