Chicago Bulls select Noa Essengue - #12 overall

[Dan Z]

I had Noa Essengue in my 'realistic' top 3, so I'm not disappointed with the pick, I REALLY wanted Jakucionis though so I'm disappointed in that outcome.

I think Noa will take some time to develop and will likely be an energy bench big for next season whilst he gets used to the NBA game.

I'm not sure if I'm excited about this pick or not, but CMB and Queen didn't end up on the Bulls so that's a plus in my eyes.

Looking forward to seeing him in summer league and watching some more clips of him until then.

I agree with you, but like I said I would've prefered to do the trade with New Orleans (that Atlanta did).

[Dan Z]

Does this pick have any effect on the Bulls interest in Kuminga?

[Muzbar]

I had Noa Essengue in my 'realistic' top 3, so I'm not disappointed with the pick, I REALLY wanted Jakucionis though so I'm disappointed in that outcome.

I think Noa will take some time to develop and will likely be an energy bench big for next season whilst he gets used to the NBA game.

I'm not sure if I'm excited about this pick or not, but CMB and Queen didn't end up on the Bulls so that's a plus in my eyes.

Looking forward to seeing him in summer league and watching some more clips of him until then.

I agree with you, but like I said I would've prefered to do the trade with New Orleans (that Atlanta did).

That sounds like a lot of hard work for AK. Not his style.

[Dan Z]

I had Noa Essengue in my 'realistic' top 3, so I'm not disappointed with the pick, I REALLY wanted Jakucionis though so I'm disappointed in that outcome.

I think Noa will take some time to develop and will likely be an energy bench big for next season whilst he gets used to the NBA game.

I'm not sure if I'm excited about this pick or not, but CMB and Queen didn't end up on the Bulls so that's a plus in my eyes.

Looking forward to seeing him in summer league and watching some more clips of him until then.

I agree with you, but like I said I would've prefered to do the trade with New Orleans (that Atlanta did).

That sounds like a lot of hard work for AK. Not his style.

Yeah it would interfere with his workout routine.

[WindyCityBorn]

Does this pick have any effect on the Bulls interest in Kuminga?

Kuminga trade seems dead because they don’t want Vuc.

[League Circles]

You've got to assume Julian Phillips could be had for a bag of chips now. I see (or rather wish) this as the current depth chart assuming Giddey and Carter stay:

5: Smith, Collins/Vuc
4: Matas, Essengue, Phillips
3: Giddey, Williams, Terry
2: Ayo, Huerter, #45
1: Coby, Ball, Carter

[Repeat 3-peat]

This can change of course.

Read on Twitter

[Dominator83]

To clarify my position, I would like this pick a lot more if we had a proven track record of developing project players, but we're the opposite. If we were a different organization with high level player development I would probably love this pick.

Any gripes I have are more on the organization than the player.

Yea that was a good topic on waddle & Silvy today. The last all-star we drafted was Jimmy Butler in 2011! Is that mostly due to bad drafting ? Or bad player development ?

It's probably the latter especially seeing what Lauri did after leaving here. Then to make things worse , AK fired Peter Patton , allegedly because he's not a yes-man. And lots of our players liked Patton and said he helped improve their shots

[Dan Z]

To clarify my position, I would like this pick a lot more if we had a proven track record of developing project players, but we're the opposite. If we were a different organization with high level player development I would probably love this pick.

Any gripes I have are more on the organization than the player.

Yea that was a good topic on waddle & Silvy today. The last all-star we drafted was Jimmy Butler in 2011! Is that mostly due to bad drafting ? Or bad player development ?

It's probably the latter especially seeing what Lauri did after leaving here. Then to make things worse , AK fired Peter Patton , allegedly because he's not a yes-man. And lots of our players liked Patton and said he helped improve their shots

Matas got better as the season went on, so that's a good sign (I say that, but agree with you).

[nomorezorro]

Read on Twitter

click through for a good twitter thread w/ clips that might reassure any of the people who heard we took a developmental wing and immediately assumed he must be patrick williams. there are plenty of questions to lob at essengue, but a guy who can generate this much writing about his off-ball movement and feel for the game as a teenager should not be getting pwill comps

[Chi town]

Love the pick. This is Buz 2.0 to me. Everyone looks at Buz with hindsight now. Like he was obviously going to be the asset he's become. Nothing's given, Essengue could bust out just like Buz could've and still could - but you take the modern, highest upside, hardest to find prototype (skilled/athletic 2-way wings) every time.

Draft is deeper this year, so there's going to be players who potentially shoot past him and we regret 3 years from now not drafting - but no one can predict that between any 2 prospects at this point in time. We don't have the quantity of assets to not shoot for the stars.

The disappointment is AK being so lazy and uncreative about the draft. What are we going to do with the Portland pick or our glut of guards - there's intersting dudes up and down this board - and yes it would've been nice to take another crack at them. That said - 45 to 33/34 is less costly than tonight to nab someone like Zikarsky/Kalkbrenner

I’ve been calling him Buz 2.0 for months. Think they will be both compliment each other well and provide a lot of help with their length on D for Giddey and Coby.

[NZB2323]

To clarify my position, I would like this pick a lot more if we had a proven track record of developing project players, but we're the opposite. If we were a different organization with high level player development I would probably love this pick.

Any gripes I have are more on the organization than the player.

Yea that was a good topic on waddle & Silvy today. The last all-star we drafted was Jimmy Butler in 2011! Is that mostly due to bad drafting ? Or bad player development ?

It's probably the latter especially seeing what Lauri did after leaving here. Then to make things worse , AK fired Peter Patton , allegedly because he's not a yes-man. And lots of our players liked Patton and said he helped improve their shots

Does the Marksman count? We drafted him, and he made an all-star team.

[Dominator83]

Read on Twitter

Everyone is comparing him to Pascal Siakam. To me, he looks like the successor of Scottie Pippen in Chicago.

We have people on here comparing his athletic profile to Lauri Markannen.

I love this boards wide variety of takes! Some think he can be the next Giannis, others think he's not even Tidjane Salaūn lol

The truth will probably settle somewhere in the middle

[Chi town]

Read on Twitter

click through for a good twitter thread w/ clips that might reassure any of the people who heard we took a developmental wing and immediately assumed he must be patrick williams. there are plenty of questions to lob at essengue, but a guy who can generate this much writing about his off-ball movement and feel for the game as a teenager should not be getting pwill comps

This is one of the main reasons I wanted him. His feel and movement are off the charts. When he cuts. The angles he uses. He baits people into bad passes. He’s excellent at pump fakes for fouls into FTs.

Pat hasn’t pump faked near the rim in his career. He only pump fakes on wide open 3s so they become contested.

[Dominator83]

To clarify my position, I would like this pick a lot more if we had a proven track record of developing project players, but we're the opposite. If we were a different organization with high level player development I would probably love this pick.

Any gripes I have are more on the organization than the player.

Yea that was a good topic on waddle & Silvy today. The last all-star we drafted was Jimmy Butler in 2011! Is that mostly due to bad drafting ? Or bad player development ?

It's probably the latter especially seeing what Lauri did after leaving here. Then to make things worse , AK fired Peter Patton , allegedly because he's not a yes-man. And lots of our players liked Patton and said he helped improve their shots

Does the Marksman count? We drafted him, and he made an all-star team.

No. Because we didn't develop him into in all-star despite having him for 4 years. Another team got that potential out of him.

[Dan Z]

Read on Twitter

click through for a good twitter thread w/ clips that might reassure any of the people who heard we took a developmental wing and immediately assumed he must be patrick williams. there are plenty of questions to lob at essengue, but a guy who can generate this much writing about his off-ball movement and feel for the game as a teenager should not be getting pwill comps

He's definitely different than PW. Runs the floor well...I think his handle is okay(?) and seems to be high energy.

I wouldn't say any of those things about PW.

[DuckIII]

Very pleased, but also very tired so will read and write a lot more tomorrow. Quick hitters:

1. He was my second favorite option going into draft night, but as KJ and Noa kept both being available by the time we got to the tenth pick, I told my son I was starting to prefer Noa. Then I went back to KJ right before we picked. Point being, I wanted him badly for quite awhile now after I had time to drill down into the video of the 10-12 guys I focused on as being in our range.

2. When we picked Matas I made a big deal out of the fact that, in a way, it was damning evidence of AK's incompetence as a GM that we had gone literally years and years as what must have been the only team in the NBA that had zero players with that general profile. Well AK did take Matas and now he took another one. That's progress.

3. It matters to me what this potentially represents as an organizational shift. He's the second youngest player in the draft. He's not ready to contribute to winning at a meaningful level next year, and he's a big uspside swing. It is, I hope, a strong sign that our FO is finally starting to understand what is and what is not important.

4. It also matters that it furthers a rational team identity rooted in the complimentary strengths of personnel who also have the same unifying characteristics to play a particular way. Its logical.

5. Its also fun.

Love the pick. Thumbs up. Now lets hope it works. And give it about 3 years before deciding if it did.

[Chi town]

To clarify my position, I would like this pick a lot more if we had a proven track record of developing project players, but we're the opposite. If we were a different organization with high level player development I would probably love this pick.

Any gripes I have are more on the organization than the player.

I think development is way more on the player than the org. Some guys know how to put in the right work to improve. Others are at the gym but still don’t improve much. See Terry and Philipps.

[mc140]

Projected lottery pick Noa Essengue arrived in the United States this week after briefly playing with ratiopharm Ulm in the German League Finals against Bayern Munich.

Essengue appeared in the first three games of the championship round, helping ratiopharm Ulm build a 2-1 best-of-five series lead. He departed the team after Game 3 over the weekend and will be on hand for the first round of the 2025 NBA draft in Brooklyn, New York.

The 6-foot-11 Frenchman missed most of the predraft process because of his obligations in Germany. He received permission to miss the remainder of his team's postseason run to attend the draft in the green room at the Barclays Center.

"That is always a hard choice," Essengue said on Tuesday. "In one case, you can play the playoff final, but the draft is really something special in the life of a basketball player. That is maybe going to be the best day of my life. That was a long conversation with my coach, staff and all of that. I would say that is my choice. I trust my teammates. I know they can do the job."

Essengue averaged 10.7 points, five rebounds and 1.2 assists on 52.1% shooting from the field in 60 games across all league competitions. He has registered seven 20-point games, including a 22-point, 14-rebound performance on June 1.

[DuckIII]

Read on Twitter

Everyone is comparing him to Pascal Siakam. To me, he looks like the successor of Scottie Pippen in Chicago.

We have people on here comparing his athletic profile to Lauri Markannen.

I love this boards wide variety of takes! Some think he can be the next Giannis, others think he's not even Tidjane Salaūn lol

Don't forget Chet. There was a drive-by Holmgren comp. Ah, draft night.