When the Chicago Bulls drafted Noa Essengue with the No. 12 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, they did so with an eye on the future. But based on Essengue's play through the team's first three preseason games, that future may come sooner than anticipated.
The French combo forward was the youngest player in the 2025 draft class. At just 18 years old and having only played professional basketball in the German Basketball Bundesliga -- not one of the top leagues in Europe -- it was understood in league circles that Essengue was a project. A worthwhile project, given his rare combination of size, length and athleticism, but a project nonetheless.
Bulls Head Coach Billy Donovan entered training camp with the belief that Essengue would need a season of seasoning, so to speak, and may spend a bulk of his rookie year with the Windy City Bulls in the G League. That certainly wasn't a novel idea. But Donovan may have to rethink that strategy.
Noa Essengue is making a case to be part of the Chicago Bulls rotation
With Matas Buzelis, Patrick Williams, Isaac Okoro and Kevin Huerter all solidly in the mix on the wing for Donovan, Essengue was going to have to fight for playing time, something he seemingly wasn't ready to do.
"He's going to have to get better with his strength; he’s going to have to get better guarding the ball one-on-one," Donovan said early in training camp. "I think, as young as Essengue is, this is going to be a process for him."
Essengue's height (6-foot-10 without shoes), wingspan (7-foot-1) and standing reach (9-foot-2) are all significant assets. Add in his graceful athleticism, and it's easy to see why he was a lottery pick. He has elite defensive potential and enough ball handling and IQ to be intriguing on offense. But he's rail thin at 200 pounds and not sturdy enough to bang with NBA bodies.
Through three exhibition contests, however, he's showing that that may not be as large an obstacle to overcome.
Noa Essengue’s length and open floor speed is immediately a big advantage.
— Elias Schuster (@Schuster_Elias) October 13, 2025
He has the potential to be incredibly disruptive on D. You also have to respect his feel for drawing contact.
Has gotten to the line twice in each preseason game. And he’s averaging only 14mins played! pic.twitter.com/pAQ4KB54jP
Essengue's strengths are already difficult to ignore
That wingspan and athleticism are already noticeable on defense. Essengue can smother, reach in, and annoy opposing ballhandlers. He can get his long limbs into passing lanes and create turnovers, which transitions (pun intended) directly into what the Bulls want him to do: glide up the floor with ease and either lead the fastbreak or fill the correct lane and make himself available for an easy basket.
In the half-court, he's intelligent enough to make the right cut and skilled enough -- at least against preseason competition -- to put the ball on the floor and drive to the rim. That's where his most impactful offensive skill, at least to this point in his career, is most apparent: Essengue has an uncanny knack for drawing fouls. He's averaging 9.1 free-throw attempts per 36 minutes. Six of his 15 total points have come at the charity stripe, and he's only shooting 54.5 percent from the line -- he shot 73.0 percent across 25 EuroCup games the last two years.
There's no doubt that Essengue is incredibly unrefined, and Donovan's reluctance to play rookies is no secret. But his ability to play suffocating defense and excel in transition is exactly what the Bulls are looking for. He's eclipsing expectations in both areas, and Donovan may not have a choice but to include him in his regular-season lineup.