The Chicago Bulls went from fielding an average offense in 2023-24 to one of the highest scoring ones in the NBA in 2024-25. A half-court scheme built around DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic scored 112.3 points per game two seasons ago, ninth-worst in the league.
With DeRozan and Alex Caruso gone and Josh Giddey on board this season, Chicago Head Coach Billy Donovan flipped tactics to an up-tempo offense that leaned heavily on pace and three-point shooting. The 2024-25 iteration finished third in the league in pace, third in three-point takes and makes, amassed the most possessions of any team and averaged 117.8 ppg, sixth-most in the league.
But as good as the Bulls were on offense, they were equally as bad on defense. They gave up the third-most points per game of any team (121.2) and the most points in the paint of any squad by a wide margin (54.0).
It would follow, then, that Chicago would desire to use its lottery pick in the 2025 NBA Draft on a prospect who could fit into that transition-based offense while helping shore up weaknesses on the other end. In his latest mock, draft guru Jonathan Wasserman hands the Bulls a hidden gem who could potentially address both of those needs to perfection.
Chicago Bulls pick Noa Essengue in latest Bleacher Report mock draft
With the 12th pick in the 2025 draft (even with a simulated lottery the Bulls can't catch a break), Wasserman projects Chicago to select Essengue, an 18-year-old French jumbo wing who current plies his trade with Ratiopharm Ulm in the Basketball Bundesliga, Germany's top level.
Essengue's measurements are intriguing; he's listed at 6-foot-9 or 6-foot-10 depending on draft sites, and while he's slight at less than 200 pounds, his wingspan came in at 6-foot-11 when he was measured at Basketball Without Borders. He could realistically be longer than that given his 9-foot-3 standing reach.
Essengue simply looks like an NBA wing. He moves athletically and fluidly, which, most critically for Chicago, points to a player who can run the floor, finish well in transition and defend multiple positions.
Given that he's the second-youngest player in the draft he's raw, especially on the offensive end. He's survived mostly on transition baskets and off cuts to this point, but he's flashed the ability to put the ball on the floor and get to the rim. He averaged 12.4 points and 5.1 rebounds as a teenager in 18 EuroCup games.
Like most young wings, Essengue's swing skill will be his three-point stroke. He's shooting under 30 percent in EuroCup, but as Wasserman notes, "He's looking more comfortable converting off self-created drives and knocking down rhythm threes. His improving on-ball skill and rising offensive production are becoming notable draft storylines."
It's easy to see Essengue's potential as a versatile shut-down defender with his height, length and athleticism. Giddey and Coby White are a defensively deficient backcourt, so having someone with Essengue's physical profile is enticing. Pairing him with breakout rookie Matas Buzelis, another athletic and explosive 6-foot-10 combo forward (who led the Bulls in blocks this season), would give Donovan's roster some intriguing options.
Essengue and Buzelis could be interchangeable and provide the Bulls with a massive amount of length and athleticism—and that's not accounting for Giddey, who's 6-foot-8 himself.
Adding Essengue to Chicago's roster, one depressingly devoid of players who possess both size and high-level athleticism, would give the franchise another valuable and needed building block as it continues to retool.