Bulls lose Noa Essengue to season-ending shoulder surgery |
Dustin Riese
· · 22 hours ago
The Chicago Bulls simply can't catch a break, can they? After starting the season 5-0 and sitting at 6-1, the wheels have fallen off in a hurry, as they are just 3-10 in their past 13 games and 9-11 overall. That puts them right on track with where they have been over the past few years, as they are currently 10th in the East at the quarter mark, which would once again put them into the play-in round.
Talk about a frustrating team stuck in mediocrity, as the Bulls just can't get out of their own way. Not only that, but the injuries have begun to pile up again for this team, an issue over the past few seasons. The biggest injury of note was Noa Essengue's shoulder injury, as it has now been revealed that the rookie will be lost for the season due to surgery needed to repair it. That is an extremely tough blow for the league's youngest player, who, although he was seen as a project when drafted, has unbelievable upside. When the Bulls took him in the first round of last summer's NBA draft, some felt it was a bit of a reach, but once you dove into the film, you could see his potential. Some compared his skill set to Matas Buzelis, who was the Bulls' first-round pick the year prior, but in some respects may have been more polished overall than Buzelis was. That is hard to believe, given that Essengue is the league's youngest player, which is why the Bulls were going to be cautious with his development. Although he saw action in only two games, both scoreless, Essengue put on a show in the G League and during the Summer League. In five games with the Windy City Bulls, Essengue was one of the team's most prolific scorers, finishing his season with 23.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.0 steals. He did it with a highly efficient field goal percentage while also showing he could step back and knock down shots from distance. This is just par for the course with the Bulls, as they have not only had difficulty developing players, but when you think they have found a talented player worth developing, they wind up getting hurt. Given the current state of the Bulls roster and where things sit, there was a good chance that Essengue would've gotten much more run in the second half of the season. Now, both parties need to wait things out until next season, hoping he returns to 100%.
