The Chicago Bulls may not have taken the players they were expected to in the draft. They might have also passed up a potentially franchise-altering deal to trade down in the first. But they still seemingly aced the draft. At least one NBA insider believes they did.
ESPN insider heaps praise on Chicago Bulls for ’25 draft class
The Chicago Bulls passed on Derik Queen and Kasparas Jakucionis, two players who were linked heavily to the team in the pre-draft process. In fact, their first-round pick wasn’t any of the centers that most mock drafts predicted. It wasn’t a center at all.
It was Noa Essengue, a pre-draft riser who was being projected in some top-10s. ESPN’s Kevin Pelton said, “I’m intrigued by how Essengue will fit with 2024 lottery pick Matas Buzelis, another young combo forward. If they shoot well enough to play together at forward or Buzelis bulks up enough to play center at times, they’d give Chicago combined strengths of length and athleticism.”
The Bulls traded down in the second round to get some future draft capital, and they selected Lachlan Olbrich. An Australian prospect, Olbrich was 50th on ESPN’s big board. So while there may not be much of an NBA future for him, there was still good value in the pick for the 21-year-old forward.
Either way, the Essengue pick was good enough to carry a draft class that only included two players. “Credit to the Bulls for taking the best player available and continuing to draft young, despite their resistance to bottoming out and picking higher in the lottery,” Pelton concluded.
The Bulls have now landed two intriguing foreign forwards in back-to-back drafts. Matas Buzelis was one of the steals of the 2024 draft at 11 overall, and now Noa Essengue has the chance to be a similar value pick at 12th overall.
Chicago may not have picked who everyone thought they would. They may also still get stuck picking in this range eternally, but at least they seem to be doing a good, smart job of making those picks. That’s one way to get out of NBA purgatory.
‘Greed’: Chicago Bulls under fire for trading draft pick for cash
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