The Chicago Bulls drafted a project player with the 12th pick of the 2025 NBA Draft, French forward Noa Essengue. The last few months show that their decision was likely a mistake, and their regret is only growing as time goes on.
The idea behind Noa Essengue was to take a shot on upside. The 6'9" lanky forward was all potential: athleticism and size and energy. His skill coming into the league was unpolished and undeveloped. The range of possibilities extended from Aleksej Pokusevski to Giannis Antetokounmpo -- a blank slate ready to be painted.
It is one thing to take a swing at upside if you have a reasonable shot at hitting the jackpot. Scouts and draft analysts differed on how likely it was that a diamond was hiding in the rough inside of Essengue. The Bulls made a huge bet that it was worth the swing -- not only because they used the No. 12 pick on him, but because of what they passed on to choose Essengue instead, and what has happened since for the young player.
The Bulls may regret drafting Noa Essengue
First, Essengue himself has been off to the absolute worst start to his career imaginable. The Chicago Bulls started the season off strong and therefore were not interested in playing a raw rookie. Essengue sat on the bench waiting for action. Then once the G League season began he was shuttled back and forth to the Windy City Bulls.
When Essengue finally did see the court, he was terrible. Lost defensively, nonexistent offensively, essentially tossed in for the final few minutes of two different games. He logged six total minutes, going 0-for-3 from the field with no rebounds, assists or blocks. He did manage a steal! And that rounds out his NBA performance.
The news got worse last week as it was announced that Essengue suffered a shoulder injury that will keep him out for the rest of the season. Project halted. It is obviously still early, but Essengue has done nothing yet in the NBA and the Bulls don't seem particularly equipped to develop him.
To make matters worse, however, the paths not taken are only looking better and better. It is widely understood that the New Orleans Pelicans were attempting to trade back into the lottery to draft Maryland big man Derik Queen. They were ultimately successful in trading up to 13 to take Queen, who has looked pretty good for the Pelicans as a skilled big.
The cost to trade up? New Orleans sent the Atlanta Hawks an unprotected 2026 first, the best of their own pick and the Bucks' pick. Right now the Pelicans have the worst record in the NBA, and the Bucks are spiraling and could be entering a rebuild. In other words, it may be the single most valuable traded pick in the entire NBA.
It almost certainly could have been the Bulls' pick, too. They could have made the trade with the Pelicans, dropped down to No. 23, and picked up a franchise-changing asset. When your front office refuses to do anything but fight for the Play-In Tournament, it's hard to get a top pick. When another team gift wraps it for you, the right answer is to take it and run.
Perhaps Noa Essengue blossoms into a future star. Or perhaps the cliff to scale to become an NBA star is too steep and with this injury setback he never makes it. Either way, the chance of pairing a lower 2025 pick like Asa Newell or or Nique Clifford with the likes of Cam Boozer or AJ Dybantsa was something the Bulls should have done -- and will likely regret for years to come.
The mistake was made. Now the front office has to live with it. Unless Essengue turns into a star, their regret is going to grow and grow.