Forward Thinking
By Brandon Duplacey
On Wednesday night the Chicago Bulls selected French forward Noa Essengue with the 12th pick in the lottery. Essengue has a very small frame but is similar in length to last year’s lottery pick Matas Buzelis whom had a fair rookie outing, averaging 8.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.0 assist in only 18 minutes per game. Head Coach Billy Donovan clearly has a “type” of player he prefers in his front court. Long, high motor guys who play aggressively above the rim. Essengue has been touted by many as a “project player” with a very high upside. Which implies to me a turning of the tide.
Since the hiring of Donovan the Bulls organization has been stubborn in accepting the probability of a rebuild as opposed to chasing meaningless play-in appearances which have repeatedly resulted in an unfavorable tail end position in the draft lottery. That being said, the Bulls have selected two players back to back that have a very high ceiling and a lot of future star potential. This is encouraging for Bulls fans that the Bulls vision has shifted toward the future. Buzelis was drafted at only 19 years of age and Essengue is just the second youngest player in this year’s draft at 18 years of age. There were players in both drafts who were probably more “NBA-ready” but with a more impressive floor than ceiling whom the Bulls ultimately decided to pass on. Likely accepting they’re not quite ready to compete any time soon. Both Buzelis and Essengue will take time to develop but have the potential to ultimately be all stars in the NBA. With pro comps to players like Pascal Siakam, Frans Wagner, and even former Bulls legend Toni Kukoc.
The Bulls still have house to clean but it appears as if they’ve at least readied their supplies. It’s now on VP Arturas Karnisovas to deal the aging veterans who continue to prevent this organization from moving forward or back. It’s time for the running of the young bulls and the selection of long term development projects like Matas and Noa is a good place to start. The Bulls are projected to sign rising star and former 6th overall pick, Josh Giddey to a long term deal. This is what we refer to as a young core, and a core provides the foundation in which to build from. Build for the future, not for the NOW. It would appear as if the Bulls front office has accepted that it’s time to move on from whatever it was they felt they were holding onto, which wasn’t much considering recent results. The first of hopefully many dominos fell last season after departing from veterans Zach Lavine and Demar Derozan, and just today trading often unavailable veteran guard Lonzo Ball. They still have work to do. I expect veteran center, Nikola Vucevic and the failed former fourth overall pick, forward Patrick Williams to be dealt before the start of the 2025 season. Which is the only way the Bulls young talent will get the minutes and exposure they need in order to develop into the players they might one day be. This team has been tough to not only root for but watch. Though the complacency and stubborn embrace of mediocrity seems to have come to a long awaited end.
