Essengue, a 6-foot-10 forward from France, signed with Ratiopharm Ulm in July 2023. He spent most of his first season with Ulm鈥檚 developmental team, but played a key role for the German club this past season, averaging 12.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 23.7 minutes per game across 18 EuroCup appearances.
Essengue, who is the second-youngest player in the 2025 draft, was actually still playing for Ratiopharm Ulm as recently as Saturday, but he left Germany to travel stateside for this week鈥檚 draft with Ulm holding a 2-1 lead over Bayern Munich in the best-of-five Basketball Bundesliga championship.
Because Essengue didn鈥檛 play college basketball in the United States, most American fans may not be familiar with his game. He鈥檚 mobile for his size and can guard a variety of players, but he still needs to develop his outside shot.
He鈥檒l be a welcome addition for a Bulls team that鈥檚 loaded with guards but low on players with size. He鈥檒l likely need time to develop into an effective NBA player, and he may not be asked to contribute a lot right away. Chicago has other options to upgrade at power forward, especially if a rumored deal to acquire Jonathan Kuminga goes through.
Essengue reportedly had a 鈥渟ecret鈥 private workout with Toronto after arriving from Germany, and there was speculation he could be taken as high as No. 9. Brooklyn and Phoenix also expressed interest, according to Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN.