This season felt like a redshirt year for the Bulls’ 12th overall draft pick Noa Essengue anyway.
Now, who knows when the rookie will even be a contributor? Two years from now? Three?
It won’t be in the 2025-26 campaign, as the forward, his representation, and the Bulls’ medical staff opted to have a season-ending shoulder surgery to fix an ongoing issue that wasn’t going to get any better.
“He’s going to be done for the year,” coach Billy Donovan surprisingly announced during his pregame media season on Wednesday. “He has to have shoulder surgery, and they will do that sometime in the near future, make plans to do that. Disappointed. I talked to him the other day and he had met with the doctors, was trying wrap his head around that. Ultimately, him and his representation, our medical guys, just talking to different doctors, getting him second opinions, presented him the information and I think the recommendation was to get it fixed now rather than waiting because it’s something that can continue to be a problem for him.
“The decision was made (Wednesday), and I talked to him the other day and felt like it was moving in that direction, but obviously he’s got to own the final decision and I think he has, so he’s going to get it done.”
Not that Essengue was really going to add much to this roster this season, but it was a key time for the 18-year-old to develop, especially in the weight room. All of that is now on hold.
