If I've said it once, I've said it a million times. I refuse to panic about an 18 year-old in the NBA, and Noa Essengue is no different. He's played six minutes in his NBA career. Six minutes. Those were six very bad minutes, I know, but they were still six minutes. Three hundred sixty seconds (I did that in my head), a literal blip over the course of an NBA season. Obviously, no conclusions can be made about Essengue yet.
However — it would be nice to know what the plan is with him going forward. Playing a guy two minutes in a game is almost worse than not playing him at all; showing anything in such a small window is nearly impossible, and the pressure to immediately contribute is pretty unfair to put on such an inexperienced player.
If Essengue isn't ready to play every night for the Bulls, that's fine. Really. No one rationally expected him to be a contributor off the bat. But he has played well in the G League, so why not just keep him down there full-time to get reps instead of constantly calling him up and sending him back down?
I know that's sort of the point of two-way players, but the Bulls don't have any interest in giving him real minutes right now, and I don't think his development will be helped by teasing him with a few minutes here and a few minutes there, especially if the minutes aren't productive in any way.
Bulls are giving everyone minutes except Noa Essengue
The most frustrating part of this situation isn't that Essengue isn't ready. Rather, it's that the Bulls seem willing to give minutes to other guys who also aren't ready.
Lachlan Olbrich and Julian Phillips have been playing real minutes recently. Are either of them ready? Not really! Phillips has looked much better recently, but that's because he was given a chance to improve while he's on the floor. Essengue hasn't been afforded that luxury.
Overall, I like how the Bulls are handling the youth movement. Guys are getting a chance to prove themselves while the team is still trying to compete every night. That's a good way to keep a rebuild exciting. But Essengue, who might have the highest ceiling of anyone, is currently getting the least opportunity of the bunch.
There's no reason to rush anything with Noa Essengue. A rocky on-court start is nothing to fear. But knowing when and where he'll be on the court is an important thing to figure out going forward.