In a weekend of shooting stars in Vegas, Bulls want their rook to play

LAS VEGAS – It was a don’t blink weekend in Sin City.

Not only because of the young star power that the 2025 NBA draft class brought to the opening four days of Summer League play, but also because of how quickly some of those stars shot across the sky and disappeared into the July night.

Load management, injury, just the plan, or maybe a mix of all of the above, guys like No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg put in two eye-opening games and then it was announced on Sunday that he was likely done until fall camp.

Flagg wasn’t alone, either.

No. 2 pick Dylan Harper played for the first time in four months because of a bad groin and wasn’t sure when he would be seen again, No. 3 pick VJ Edgecombe has been sidelined in Vegas, and the likes of Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach played in one game before it was decided that they would sit out Game 2 and then play it by ear.

The Bulls were in the same boat.

The original plan for second-year forward Matas Buzelis was to play in the first two games and then shut it down, but because of how physical Toronto played the 2024 first-round pick, Buzelis was held out for Game 2, and the hope was to have him back Monday against the Pacers.

Sunday was an off day for the Bulls players, but Buzelis was going to continue getting treatment and see how he felt on Monday.

The other wait-and-see for the Bulls was rookie Noa Essengue. The 18-year-old was dealing with a right thigh/knee contusion that forced him out of Saturday’s game in the third quarter and was limping to and from the interview area afterwards.

Not ideal, especially because the plan for Essengue was always to get him in at least all four scheduled games. The youngster needs to play as much basketball as he can in his development, so the fact that he was already nursing bumps and bruises wasn’t ideal. Workable, but not ideal.

According to Bulls Summer League coach Billy Donovan III, the plan was further treatment for Essengue on Sunday and then an assessment of where he was come the Monday morning shootaround.

Considering how raw he’s looked, missing any amount of time for him is a missed opportunity. It is for any player that’s considered a project.

Drafting Essengue at No. 12 wasn’t necessarily a reach, but it was a head scratcher that the Bulls were the team that drafted him. After all, they were known to be in on Collin Murray-Boyles – arguably one of the more physically developed prospects in the lottery – and when he was snagged up at No. 9 opted to go in a completely different direction and philosophy, taking one of the least ready lottery talents.

Maybe that’s why Essengue looked as overwhelmed as he did in his Friday debut.

Credit to the Bulls Summer League coaching staff for changing the game plan with him a night later and speeding up the pace. Essengue is very limited in the half-court game, so the focus was getting to play to his strengths as much as possible.

“That’s the whole reason we want to play fast,” coach Billy Donovan III said. “There’s no better time to attack and get those one-on-one opportunities than in transition. The beauty about his skillset is once he gets the ball off the glass, he has the ability to push in the open floor, which allows us to play faster.”

A change that Essengue appreciated.

“That’s the type of basketball I’ve trained for,” Essengue said of the quicker pace. “That’s the style I play.”

Now the key for the rest of the upcoming week is first and foremost to make sure Essengue can play.