The Chicago Bulls' supposed interest in BYU's Egor Demin doesn't seem to be going away. Numerous mock drafts have linked Demin to the Bulls, while concurrently, Chicago Sun Times' Joe Cowley has reported that the Bulls are "zoning in" on the jumbo playmaker.
Despite Demin being far from a picture-perfect fit on a team about to sign a player of the same ilk to a five-year contract, the discourse remains prevalent. ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel wrote, "Chicago wants versatile players who can wear multiple hats. Egor Demin is a name that keeps being brought up for the Bulls when talking with league personnel."
Demin is certainly one of the draft's more intriguing prospects—a 6-foot-9 playmaker who stuffed the stat sheet at BYU. The 19-year-old averaged 10.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.3 three-pointers per game. While impressive, his glaring weaknesses overlap with Josh Giddey's.
Demin is a subpar three-point shooter. The former Cougar shot merely 27.3 percent from three-point range, and his 50.9 true shooting percentage didn't inspire much confidence. For reference, Giddey shot 29.3 percent from downtown and held a 51.0 true shooting percentage while suiting up for the Adelaide 36ers.
Both players were heralded as instinctual playmakers, with an advanced feel for the game, yet they lack the requisite athleticism to make a difference defensively, and have more questions than answers on the offensive end.
Noa Essengue fills the Bulls' needs more so than the Egor Demin
Instead of doubling down on a Giddey clone, the Bulls must follow through with Siegel's sentiment by adding an actual versatile wing—France's Noa Essengue. The 18-year-old suiting up for Ratiopharm Ulm in Germany's Basketball Bundesliga is averaging 10.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game while attempting 5.6 free throws per contest.
Essengue has upped his counting stats as the competition has heightened over the past month. On May 1, the 6-foot-9 forward averaged just under 10 points and five rebounds per game. Essengue has scored 14 or more points in four of his last six appearances. He's also averaging 8.0 rebounds over this same stretch.
The second-youngest eligible draftee isn't nearly as refined a playmaker as Demin—he's totaled nearly as many turnovers (43) as assists (45) this season. But besides passing (and maybe three-point shooting), Essengue is better across the board than Demin.
Essengue is incredibly quick for his size, boasts impressive length, is uniquely switchable, and possesses a tremendous motor. The Frenchman may not do one thing as well as Demin does, but he fills far more voids and is much easier to fit into the Bulls' rotation. Essengue can suit up at either the three or the four, and perhaps even play some small-ball five in a pinch.
Demin, although 6-foot-9, is best suited as a team's primary playmaker. He does the most damage with the ball in his hands. But so does Giddey and arguably Coby White, who starred in a higher usage role in the latter half of the 2024-25 season. There's not much room for a hoard of primarily ball handlers on the Bulls or any team in the NBA, but the same cannot be said for combo forwards.
It could be argued that Essengue's skillset and physical profile overlap with Matas Buzelis', but the value placed on two-way wings compared to non-shooting, jumbo-sized playmakers is second to none. Essengue's fit is so much better than Demin's on the Bulls, and his ceiling is much higher.