The Chicago Bulls took Noa Essengue 12th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft. It's obviously too early to say if it was the right pick, but his season-ending injury again brings into question the plan for his development.
The Chicago Bulls recently announced that 2025 12th overall pick Noa Essengue would be out for the rest of the season with a left shoulder injury suffered during a G League game and he will now need surgery to remedy the issue.
Essengue's rehab process is expected to take six-to-seven months.
It's obviously too early to say if it was the right pick, but his season-ending injury again brings into question the plan for the young Frenchman's development.
Chicago fans have been--as many fans of struggling teams do-- discussing how realistic trade scenarios are, but the Bulls have bigger fish to fry, as there doesn't appear to be a clear answer to how solid their current core is, given the many injuries littered throughout the roster amid their low point of the season.
Josh Giddey, Matas Buzelis, and--assuming he would like to stay in Chicago--Coby White would appear to be the "core" in Chicago. Noa Essengue. whether or not he was likely to play anytime soon, has to be considered a core piece as a 12th overall pick for a team in need of a talent infusion.
Billy Donovan likes to bring rookies along slowly, we (most of us) all know this. In his rookie season, Matas Buzelis didn't play throughout October, and it wasn't until February that Buzelis started to crack the 25+ minutes per game mark. But even with Buzelis being brought along late, by December he was playing somewhere between 12.9 to 16.5 MPG, meaning: he was established as at least a rotation player. In contrast, Noa Essengue received six total minutes across two NBA games.
Essengue had some promising minutes in the G League, including a 28-point game in which he finished with 8 rebounds, 3 free throw attempts, and 6 3-point attempts, showcasing the slashing ability, rebounding prowess, and willingness to fire away from the perimeter.
Adding to the doubt surrounding the Essengue pick after his rough start--or lack thereof--in Chicago, was Donovan's words about prospect Derik Queen, selected 13th overall by the Pelicans following a trade in which they gave up their 2026 1st round pick unprotected.
Billy Donovan's Derik Queen Comments Spark Reaction From Bulls Nation
Recent comments from Billy Donovan made it sound like he was a big fan of Derik Queen during the draft process, and it made Bulls fans question if Donovan truly supported the selection of Noa Essengue.
With Essengue's rookie season essentially moved to next season, the microscope zooms in even more on the rest of the Bulls core.
Buzelis has had an up-and-down year seemingly littered with trips to Billy Donovan's in-game doghouse. Overall Buzelis hasn't been impressive, shooting worse from 3-point range (33.7%) and still struggling as a finisher at the rim despite some impressive dunks.
Per Cleaning The Glass, Buzelis is shooting 58% at the rim so far this season, a terrible mark for a forward and the same thing he shot during his rookie season.
Josh Giddey continues to impress. At the time of this writing, he is averaging 20.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 9.1 assists over his last 10 games, the main problem, of course, being that the Bulls are 3-7 over their last 10 games.
The Bulls porous record over this recent stretch is not Giddey's fault. He obviously shares some of the blame with all of his teammates, but the bigger point is that true stars find a way to elevate their teams to wins against the bottom of the league. So if it is agreed that Giddey is not the true "star," and Buzelis has a long way to go in that department, where do the Bulls turn for the feature player of their core?
Coby White could be the the clear face of the Bulls core, but a season disrupted by injuries, his status as an upcoming unrestricted free agent, and the fact that he is a bit older than Giddey and Buzelis, make it tough to forecast how it all fits together down the line for the Bulls. The fact that Essengue--an extremely raw prospect to begin with--will lose a full year of on-court development is a tough blow for the Bulls future.
Only the Bulls braintrust truly knows how close they truly were to drafting Derik Queen, accepting the New Orleans Pelicans eventual trade offer for Queen, or making their own bold trade to move up to get another reported target in 9th overall pick Collin Murray-Boyles. But in selecting Essengue, and giving him no run in the NBA during his brief stretch before this season-ending injury, Bulls fans and the front office are left wondering how long they will have to wait before they are even able to properly assess where the Bulls young core stacks up to the rest of the Eastern Conference.
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