(670 The Score) The Bulls remain a team in “transition,” general manager Marc Eversley said Wednesday night after the organization selected French forward Noa Essengue at No. 12 overall in the NBA Draft but didn’t make any trades amid a flurry of activity across the league in recent days.
“We’ve said it before but it’s worth repeating – we are in transition,” Eversley said. “We took a step back this season to reposition and retool and while we don’t know exactly what next year’s roster will look like, we’re encouraged by the early progress and the direction we are heading. Over the next 18 months, through the draft tonight, free agency and with financial flexibility coming in 2026, we believe we are setting ourselves up to take meaningful steps forward. We know we have a lot of work to do. We know it’s frustrating when change doesn’t happen overnight. But we’ve seen encouraging growth from our young core, and we’re going to keep pushing. Building something great, making it last, it takes a long time. It takes planning, patience and doing the hard work without taking shortcuts. There may be tough moments along the way, but we believe in this path, and we appreciate the fans and you all sticking with us as we take that next step.”
Just how much roster turnover the Bulls will have this offseason remains a mystery. The Bulls have 12 players on guaranteed contracts for the 2025-’26 season, just added Essengue to the mix and plan to re-sign guard Josh Giddey, a restricted free agent.
That leaves the trade market as the Bulls’ main path for making significant change on their roster. The Bulls had discussions with three or four teams above them in the NBA Draft order Wednesday but stood pat at No. 12 overall as the board played out to their liking, Eversley said. The Bulls had trade discussions centered on guard Coby White and guard Lonzo Ball on Wednesday, the Sun-Times reported. Those two as well as veteran center Nikola Vucevic are potential trade candidates in the coming weeks.
“We’ll continue to look at different options, whether that’s trades or free agency next week,” Eversley said. “We’ll continue to tinker with the roster.”
As the Bulls come off a 39-43 season, their decisions this offseason will be made as the Eastern Conference has opened up due to a series of devastating injuries to stars like the Celtics’ Jayson Tatum, the Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton and the Bucks’ Damian Lillard. Despite that, the Bulls seem hesitant to accelerate their process quickly.
“There’s definitely more opportunities for teams to take a jump,” Eversley said. “There’s certainly teams who have taken a step back. I think for us, we need to remain diligent and pragmatic about how we build this. We don’t want to skip steps. I think sometimes when you do skip steps, expectations kind of build and you make mistakes. And I don’t think we want to do that.”
How the 6-foot-10, 194-pound Essengue will fit in as a rookie with the Bulls remains to be seen. As an 18-year-old now who won’t turn 19 until December, he’s the second-youngest player in this draft class behind No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg. His development figures to take time.
Eversley referenced the need to have a developmental plan for Essengue both on and off the court as he’ll be tasked with acclimating to life in America after growing up in the French basketball pipeline before playing professionally for Ratiopharm Ulm in Germany for the past two seasons.
Further down the line, the Bulls project Essengue to be a difference-maker on both ends of the floor.
“I see him as a two-way player who can impact the game both offensively and defensively," Eversley said. "His ability to get to the free-throw line and play downhill is super intriguing to us. I think he’ll be able to be a versatile wing defender. I think his game is a little bit similar to Matas (Buzelis) in that he can face up, he can post you up, he can get out on the break. His game is just very versatile.”
For Ulm, Essengue averaged 9.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.6 blocks in 23.2 minutes in 30 games in the regular season this past season, when he shot 47.4% overall and 67.9% from the free-throw line. His outside shot is inconsistent and will likely be a key swing factor in his NBA career. Like all prospects his age, he’ll need to add strength as well.
“We’re just going to continue to focus on player development,” Eversley said. “We’ve established a style of play offensively. I think the next iteration of this is identifying who we are defensively and how we can improve.”
And as for how the Bulls can add a star? Eversley suggested the organization will look inward rather than partaking in any tanking measures in the 2025-’26 season.
“There’s different paths,” he said. “Internal development is the way we’re going to attack that. I think if you look at somebody like Matas last year, nobody thought he’d finish the year (like he did). Now, I’m not putting any kind of undue expectations on Matas, but there’s other players in this building, on this team who if they continue to develop, continue to work on a daily basis, they may get there. We have the resources in place, the coaching staff, the player development to support that.”
Cody Westerlund is an editor for 670TheScore.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.