Frenchman Noa Essengue is the newest member of the Chicago Bulls, which means—somewhat unbelievably—VP of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas and General Manager Marc Eversley have taken a step in the right direction to fix one of the NBA's worst defenses.
The Bulls selected Essengue with the 12th overall pick, immediately after center Khaman Maluach went No. 10 to the Phoenix Suns and wing Cedric Coward went 11th to the Memphis Grizzlies. Both would have been ideal fits for Chicago, but the franchise chose to make a smart defense-first choice nonetheless.
Bulls select Noa Essengue with No. 12 pick in 2025 NBA Draft
Essengue possesses elite physical tools that most players lack. He's nearly 7 feet tall with a 7-foot-1 wingspan and a 9-foot-2 standing reach, yet he moves like a 6-foot-6 wing. He possesses a rare combination of height, length, athleticism and fluid movement skills that point to a high-caliber NBA defender.
He's the second-youngest player in the draft behind Cooper Flagg, yet he put up solid numbers in the EuroCup this season: 12.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.0 stocks in nearly 24 minutes per game across 18 contests. He's raw offensively, but that's relatively impressive production for such a young player in a high-level European competition.
Where Essengue thrives most, though, and where he'll be most valuable to the Bulls while he rounds out his offensive game, is as a Swiss army knife defender. He has a massive wingspan, elite athleticism for someone his size and plays with a hunger on that end of the floor. He can switch onto smaller defenders and potentially guard 1 through 4, especially if he adds some strength and bulk.
Noa Essengue's fit with the Chicago Bulls
Chicago allowed the third-most points in the NBA last season and the most points in the paint. Essengue should be able to help with both as a switchable on-ball defender and a 7-foot, long-armed help defender.
For now, the Bulls are still stuck with Nikola Vucevic as their starting center and Zach Collins as a reserve. Essengue provides a set of skills that neither of the team's incumbents have, and the pairing of he and Matas Buzelis is wildly intriguing; both are long and have a rare set of movement skills, but Buzelis is more of a scorer than a defender while Essengue is more of a defender than a scorer.
It's a bet on his development and how Head Coach Billy Donovan brings him along, but Essengue has the tools and the potential to become an All-NBA-caliber defender in time.