Chicago Bulls fans got plenty to be excited about this offseason with the additions of Caleb Wilson, Dailyn Swain, Norman Powell and others. But tucked behind all that noise is a name that should matter a lot more than it has lately: Noa Essengue.
The No. 12 overall pick last year was supposed to be working his way back into the picture after a shoulder injury wiped out almost his entire rookie season. Instead, Essengue’s own update has made that return feel a little less straightforward.
Via Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic, Essengue said he’ll need to “learn how to play again” as he keeps building back toward full strength.
Noa Essengue said with his new shoulder he has to “learn how to play again.” Says he’s at about 98% and is still working through some range-of-motion stuff. Said he hasn’t talked to the staff about how many games he’ll play in Vegas.
- Joel Lorenzi (@JoelXLorenzi) July 6, 2026
That’s not exactly the kind of line Bulls fans wanted to hear from a player who was already viewed as a long-term project. Essengue arrived in the league raw, and Chicago knew that going in.
His tools were the selling point: 6-foot-10 with a 7-foot-1 wingspan and a 9-foot-2 standing reach, plus the kind of fluid athleticism that lets him get downhill, draw contact and stir things up defensively. He also came into the NBA at 204 pounds.
He was the youngest player in his class, even younger than Cooper Flagg, which only reinforced the idea that Chicago was betting on what he might become rather than what he already was.
There were flashes in the four G League games he played. Essengue averaged 23.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.0 blocks, while getting to the line 4.8 times per game and shooting 84.2 percent there. But the injury cut off any momentum before it could really build.
Now he’s had more than seven months to recover and add strength, and there is at least one encouraging note: his shoulder is reportedly at about 98 percent. The bigger question is what comes next. Lorenzi’s reporting on the “learn how to play again” comment is the part that lands hardest.
There’s even a case to be made that Essengue never fully got comfortable at the NBA level in the first place. If that’s the reality, then this comeback is less about picking up where he left off and more about starting over.
Bulls coach Tiago Splitter at least sounds intrigued by what Essengue can do. During summer league, Splitter said “he could play 3, 4 or 5, easily,” according to Lorenzi. Splitter will be on the sideline for the first few games in Las Vegas, so the way he uses Essengue there should tell Chicago something.
Essengue deserves credit for being direct about where he stands. But honesty doesn’t make the concern go away. If anything, it sharpens it.
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