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The pick is in. The Chicago Bulls used the 12th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft to select French phenom Noa Essengue. Leading up to the draft, it sounded like the top contenders for the Bulls were Essengue, Derik Queen and Collin Murray-Boyles. Murray-Boyles was taken with the ninth pick in the draft, so it likely came down to Queen or Essengue. Queen has a lot of potential, but there were also a lot of concerns about him. The Bulls picked Essengue, and Queen was taken by the Atlanta Hawks with the next pick.
For a while leading up to the draft, it was sounding like the Bulls were going to take Derik Queen. There were a lot of mixed opinions surrounding that pick in the fan base. There are a lot of mixed reactions about Noa Essengue as well. He has a ton of potential and raw talent, but there are fans worried about the team's ability to develop him into an elite NBA player.
There were also talks about the Bulls potentially trading up to try to draft a player like Ace Bailey. Bailey was originally expected to be a top-three pick, but he slid down to #5. The Bulls decided that it wasn't worth trading up, and they were confident that they could get a talented player at 12. They went with Noa Essengue.
Now the wait is over. The Bulls made their pick, and while they still have another player to select in the second round on Thursday, Essengue is the one that will receive all the attention. Let's grade this draft pick and break it down.
Bulls Noa Essengue draft grade: B
Noa Essengue is coming to the Bulls from Europe as he has been playing for Ratiopharm Ulm, a professional team located in Ulm, Germany. Essengue played in 18 games during the 2024-25 season, and he averaged 12.4 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per game and 1.1 assists per game while shooting 56% from the floor. Essengue doesn't shoot a ton of threes and shot just under 30% from beyond the arc.
Essengue is one of the youngest prospects in the draft as he doesn't turn 19 until December. He has tremendous length as he stands at 6'10”, and he has a 7'1″ wingspan.
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It might take Essengue a little while to flourish at the next level because of his age, but he has the tools to be successful. He is tremendous on the defensive end which is a big plus for the Bulls, and his athleticism and size make him difficult to defend on offense. His shooting is something that needs to be worked on as defenders don't have to worry about him shooting the deep ball very often. Because of that, it makes it more challenging for Essengue to easily get to the rim. If he can become a shooting threat, it will make him a completely different player.
There was some chatter about the Bulls potentially drafting a guard despite having plenty of depth there, but they obviously did not go that route. Chicago needed to improve the frontcourt as Nikola Vucevic is not only nearing the end of his career, but he is also one of the team's most likely trade candidates. If Noa Essengue pans out the way the Bulls hope, they will have size and athleticism down low for a long time.
Here is what ClutchPoints' NBA insider Brett Siegel said about Noa Essengue before the draft:
“There continues to be a lot of talk about some teams wanting to trade up in this year's draft to grab Noa Essengue, a polarizing French prospect who has the length and lateral quickness to be an impactful forward right away,” Siegel wrote. “While multiple teams inside the top 10 have interest in Essengue, there are also teams like the Thunder outside of the lottery that have been linked to him. Esengue could go anywhere from 8-15 in this year's draft, as it does appear as if Oklahoma City would be his floor.”
Overall, this is a solid pick for the Bulls. We can analyze it as much as we want, but only time will tell how good of a pick this is. Noa Essengue clearly has the talent to be an outstanding player in the NBA, but the Bulls will need to be there to develop him along the way. If Chicago can do that, this pick should end up working out.
