Bulls head coach Billy Donovan said rookie forward Noa Essengue won’t travel with the team to New York for the second game of a home-and-home Sunday against the Knicks.
Essengue is going to the G League to play with the Windy City Bulls. Donovan said the organization wants Essengue to get more comfortable as a scorer and see consistent improvement in his rebounding and defense.
‘‘We feel like we’ve got to get him some playing time, some practice time,’’ Donovan said.
Essengue, 18, has yet to make his regular-season debut. Fellow forwards Julian Phillips, Isaac Okoro and Patrick Williams are further along in their development, and Donovan said there would be a ‘‘period of catching up’’ for Essengue.
The Bulls went through a similar situation last season with forward Matas Buzelis, who entered the NBA lacking strength and without a path to regular minutes behind DeMar DeRozan and Williams.
The Bulls, however, drafted Essengue with the intent to develop him in the coming seasons. The fact that he isn’t a finished product was part of the intrigue.
Though he arguably will be the most talented player on the Windy City Bulls, the organization wants to see Essengue focus on things that impact winning, not just on ratcheting up his shot total.
‘‘He’s got to get better with his feet when the ball comes to him,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘He has a tendency to travel right now. I think the weight room is a huge priority for him in terms of getting his strength right now.
‘‘Offensively, [Essengue has to] catch and play off the dribble [and] off the pass a little bit better. He’s got to be put into those situations where he gets a chance to do that a little bit more.’’
New NBA Cup court
As the Bulls and Knicks ran up and down the floor Friday, the gray court stood out. It wasn’t the bright red one the Bulls played on during their NBA Cup games last season.
‘‘At first, it had all these colorful floors,’’ center Nikola Vucevic said. ‘‘I think it was a bit of a shock for everybody because you never really played on those.’’
The Bulls’ court this season is a light gray with red ‘‘Chicago’’ lettering across midcourt. Aside from the new court, players seem to enjoy the intensity the Cup brings out of teams.
‘‘It feels like a playoff atmosphere, like every possession counts,’’ Okoro said. ‘‘People are leaving their starters in . . . their best players in [to] rack up the points. So [it’s] more like a playoff feel.’’
‘It never really went anywhere’
The Knicks requested permission to interview Donovan after firing head coach Tom Thibodeau after last season, but the Bulls turned them down. Donovan signed a contract extension shortly thereafter and said the discussions didn’t really get to him.
‘‘It never really went anywhere, so to speak,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘I did not talk to them. But I think the relationships that have been established here for myself, with ownership and the front office, I enjoyed those and certainly felt obligated and committed.’’