Noa Essengue makes NBA debut in 121-120 win

Noa Essengue knows how to wait for her moment.

That’s almost all he’s been allowed to do since arriving in Chicago as a lottery draft pick this summer. And when he made his debut Saturday night against the Washington Wizards, that’s how he spent the majority of his 3 minutes and 53 seconds on the court.

Look. Waiting for.

For almost four minutes, Essengue was mainly a passenger in the progress of the match. He sprinted down the field and into the corner on every transition play, kept his hands close to his stomach, palms out in case an unexpected pass came his way. His eyes followed the ball as it spun around the arc, his feet walking in the correct spacing as if following a choreographed path. When a shot was launched, the rookie dutifully followed toward the rim.

It didn’t last long. Essengue watched and waited for the rest of the game from his traditional seat near the end of the bench, huddled next to the injured players. He was stuck watching and waiting as the Bulls clawed back from a 16-point deficit. Tre Jones made two free throws and dove on the hardwood to force a turnover and clinch a 121-120 victory.

But that doesn’t bother Essengue. He is patient. And after weeks of absence, the 6-foot-9 rookie knows how to cherish every minute that comes his way.

“It was nice to be on the field with my teammates since I have been working for two or three months now,” Essengue said. “I just enjoyed it. I know I don’t have a lot of time, so I just tried to enjoy every moment.”

It’s difficult to judge a rookie’s potential from less than four minutes of play. Coach Billy Donovan acknowledged that truth after the victory, calling Essengue’s debut “good” given his limited time on the court.

As always, Donovan had notes. Essengue missed his only shot attempt, a 3-pointer on a corner after reception. He found himself caught by a back screen and thus missed a switch. Still, Donovan knows he hasn’t given Essengue enough time to do much more than think about the pace and difficulty of an NBA game.

“I’d like to see him rev his engine a little more,” Donovan said after the win. “But I was happy to be able to throw it in there for a few minutes.”

It took the rookie 16 games to crack the rotation. Essengue was the last player from the 2025 lottery to debut. Saturday evening, 50 other recruits had played before him.

It’s no surprise. The Bulls never planned to plunge Essengue into heavy minutes early in his rookie season. After watching extensive film on Essengue this summer, Donovan said the Bulls coaching staff quickly came to a consensus: “Hey, look, this guy is going to be a long-term play. It’s going to take time.”

But Donovan also understands that there is a fine line between patience and negligence. And as Essengue’s rookie season progressed without playing time, the coach began to look to outside options for the forward’s development.

“We can’t waste a year on him,” Donovan said. “If he doesn’t necessarily get a lot of minutes this year, we need to make the best use of the G League where he’s playing and training with these guys.”

Luck was not on Essengue’s side in the first weeks of this season.

The Bulls have only been eliminated twice: on the road against the Detroit Pistons on November 12 and Friday night at home against the Miami Heat. Both games would have presented Essengue with excellent opportunities to earn some minutes in the bin – particularly Friday’s loss, which saw the Bulls’ squad reduced to seven available players due to injuries, fouls and a sending off. But Essengue was not in the building that night.

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The Pistons game took place the day after Essengue made his G League debut in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. And while the Bulls struggled Friday night, Essengue calmly lost 22 points to the Iowa Wolves in Des Moines.

Donovan even considered mixing Essengue into Monday’s game against the Denver Nuggets as the Bulls faced a back-to-back on tired legs following a double overtime loss. But the Bulls clearly don’t want to face Essengue in close game scenarios in which he could cost the team valuable assets — or damage his confidence with a higher-profile mistake. So when the Nuggets game was played, Donovan kept his rookie on the bench.

“I was ready to put it in this game — I really was,” Donovan said. “It’s a tricky situation because at the moment the match is going on you’re trying to do what’s best for the team. But you also have to be attentive to their development, helping them improve as well.”

But on Saturday, the Bulls needed reinforcement. They were missing three forwards – Isaac Okoro, Patrick Williams and Dalen Terry – after an injury-laden loss the night before.

Even with a shorthanded team, Donovan didn’t want to throw his rookie in the deep end. Instead, the coach opted to run smaller rotations with guards such as Jevon Carter absorbing the extra minutes missed by the trio of injured forwards. However, these few minutes constituted an important step forward for Essengue.

For the remainder of his rookie season, Essengue can expect his dance card to be crowded. The Bulls want him to play as much as possible – but the majority of those reps will likely happen in the G League, especially in the lead-up to the All-Star break.

Essengue benefits from the greater responsibilities and longer rotations he receives with the Windy City Bulls, giving him ample time to work on a long list of first-year improvements. He needs to catch up with the pace of the NBA. He must learn to protect several actions, to take a player off the dribble.

“I can always do better, be more active with the ball,” Essengue said.

More importantly, the rookie must become stronger.

Essengue’s main job as a rookie takes place off the field: lifting weights and eating as much as possible. The rookie is rarely seen without a protein shake nearby. But even with these efforts, accelerating the process of maturing a teenager’s body into that of a professional athlete remains a daunting task.

“Look, he’s 18,” Donovan said. “Everyone knows physically they have to get stronger.”