After the selection of Noa Essengue in last month's draft, the Chicago Bulls appear, finally, to be a franchise with a clear direction again. The duo of Essengue and last year's lottery pick, Matas Buzelis, is at the forefront of an organizational emphasis on length, athleticism and versatility, and fans will get to see a glimpse of that pairing at the 2025 NBA Summer League.
The Bulls, led by Billy Donovan III, aren't exactly sending a star-studded roster to Las Vegas, even by summer league standards. Perhaps that will be offset by the Buzelis inclusion; it's at least a minor surprise that Chicago is sending its starting power forward to play in some glorified scrimmages.
But no matter how brief, a chance to see how things could look when the plan begins (hopefully) to bloom should give fans something real to be excited about.
Matas Buzelis, Noa Essengue will put Bulls future on display at NBA Summer League
Chicago clearly has a type. The 18-year-old Essengue measured 6-foot-10 without shoes at the 2025 draft combine to go with a 7-foot-1 wingspan and a 9-foot-2 standing reach. He's a fluid athlete capable of guarding multiple positions, blocking shots, grabbing steals and racking up deflections, who's at his best offensively when running in transition.
Buzelis is a similarly lanky 6-foot-10, and while his wingspan isn't as massive as Essengue's, he makes up for it with explosive athleticism not commonly found in players approaching 7 feet tall.
With a 6-foot-8, multi-threat floor general like Josh Giddey presumably returning at some point this offseason, the Bulls' vision is clear: Collect long, athletic, interchangeable combo forwards who can run the floor and overwhelm opposing offenses with a sea of limbs. No one typifies that better than Buzelis and Essengue.
“We have the same goal to be better every day,” Essengue said, per Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune. “He plays a little bit like me and got already one year experience, and I think he played really good. That’s just helped me to have a role model on the court.”
Buzelis praised the rookie's work ethic and love of the game while simply repeating what everyone else is thinking: “I feel like defensively we’re going to be a problem."
The Bulls' first summer league contest is on Friday, July 11, against the Toronto Raptors. They'll face the Sacramento Kings the following day, which could mark the end of Buzelis' time in Vegas, before playing the Indiana Pacers (July 14) and Milwaukee Bucks (July 16). Should Chicago qualify, the summer league playoffs begin on July 19.