It wasn’t as though the Bulls’ public-relations department was putting a lot of energy into a Rookie of the Year campaign for forward Noa Essengue before Wednesday.
After all, the 18-year-old had played only six minutes in the NBA this season.
Six minutes is all he will finish with.
Before the Bulls’ game against the Nets, head coach Billy Donovan announced Essengue — whom the Bulls drafted with the 12th overall pick in June — needs surgery on his left shoulder and will miss the rest of the season.
‘‘He’s going to be done for the year,’’ Donovan said during his pregame media session. ‘‘He has to have shoulder surgery, and they will do that sometime in the near future, make plans to do that.
‘‘[He’s] disappointed. I talked to him the other day, and he had met with the doctors [and] was trying to wrap his head around that. Ultimately, he and his representation, our medical guys — just talking to different doctors, getting him second opinions — presented him with 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]. 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.’’
Essengue wasn’t playing much this season, but it was a key time for him to develop, especially in the weight room.
The Bulls drafted Essengue as a project, and that’s exactly what he was. The problem was, among the 14 lottery picks in the loaded 2025 class, he was the one who was contributing the least to his team.
The Bulls seem committed to changing that once he recovers, putting him on a strict weightlifting program to add some much-needed strength to his frame, as well as changing his diet — chef included.
Donovan said once Essengue has the surgery, he won’t be able to take part in any
activity for at least six weeks. After that, it will be six to seven months before he can begin full-contact basketball activity.
That’s a lot of time lost for a player already considered to be in the NBA equivalent of a redshirt season.
‘‘We’re going to have to do some things in the weight room with him,’’ Donovan said of Essengue’s new reality. ‘‘We’ve got to have a plan put together coming out of these six weeks [of no activity] to help him as much as we can for the rest of the season.
‘‘I think we obviously still have the time when he does get through the surgery and he’s allowed to work on his lower body. The setback to me in it all is you’d like to have a guy like that with [limited] minutes for us or good minutes with the G League. A young player, when you’re taking away playing, that’s never great. So we’ve got to figure out what we can do to help him with his body, footwork, the things we’ve talked about since he’s been here.’’
Fortunately, Essengue will have some teammates to bounce things off. Guards Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White each have gone through shoulder surgeries.
Donovan said he wants Essengue to take full advantage of those two as resources.
‘‘Even with Ayo and Coby, those shoulder surgeries take a long time rehab-wise,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘The thought by [Essengue] was, ‘The longer I wait, inevitably I’m going to have to get this done. Does it bleed into the summer, bleed into next season?’ The thought was the sooner, the better.’’