The Chicago Bulls have been gifted a Disabled Player Exception following rookie lottery pick Noa Essengue’s season-ending surgery to correct a dislocated left shoulder, sources inform Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic.
Essengue’s injury was announced nearly two weeks ago, so it’s no surprise that Chicago is at least acquiring a DPE to explore its roster-building options.
On Tuesday, Lorenzi also captured footage of Essengue at Chicago’s practice facility, The Advocate Center, wearing a sling around the shoulder.
Rookie Noa Essengue in a sling. Recently underwent a procedure for his dislocated shoulder. pic.twitter.com/mvu8wjbFYY
— Joel Lorenzi (@JoelXLorenzi) December 16, 2025Selected with the No. 12 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft this summer out of German pro club Ratiopharm Ulm, the 18-year-old Frenchman is the league’s second-youngest player, behind only No. 1 selection Cooper Flagg.
Essengue’s rookie season ended prematurely after just two games at the NBA level, where he logged a grand total of six minutes and a combined 0-of-3 shooting from the field. Essengue did put up impressive numbers in the G League, averaging 23 points and 8.5 boards across his four healthy bouts with the Bulls’ Hoffman Estates-based affiliate, the Windy City Bulls.
Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn ImagesHe was never expected to be part of head coach Billy Donovan’s rotations this season, but a long-term injury recovery will certainly affect the development he could be getting with the team in his rookie campaign.
While Bulls’ GM Arturas Karnisovas did hit on guard Ayo Dosunmu (the exception who proved Karnisovas’ rule, as a relatively seasoned three-year University of Illinois star) and forward Matas Buzelis in recent drafts, he has also whiffed on Patrick Williams, Dalen Terry, Julian Phillips (for whom he burned multiple second-round picks), and Marko Simonovic.
In Essengue’s own draft, Maryland standout Derik Queen, a pass-happy center with a considerable offensive bag, was selected immediately after him with the No. 13 pick — and he’s already racking up triple-doubles and is a Rookie of the Year frontrunner.
Will The Bulls Actually Use the DPE?
Dating back to the GarPax era, the notoriously lazy Bulls have often let trade and disabled player exceptions expire without actually signing anybody. Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley have maintained this approach.
Chicago earned a $10.2 million DPE for Lonzo Ball ahead of the 2023-24 season, which the team ultimately let expire without signing anybody. The Bulls have also snoozed on trade exceptions from their Alex Caruso and Zach LaVine deals.
So let’s not get our hopes up just yet.
Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY SportsA DPE, worth up to half the contract for the injured player in question, can be used to either bring in a free agent on a one-year contract, trade for an expiring contract, or claim a player off waivers. Because Essengue is earning just $5,429,520, Chicago’s newly generated disabled player exception will be worth $2,714,760.
It should be noted that the Bulls have $6.2 million remaining from their $17.2 million Zach LaVine trade exception, having used $11 million of the deal to obtain Isaac Okoro over the summer. The money expires on Feb. 3, 2026, just two days before the trade deadline.
Chicago also has a full mid-level and a bi-annual exception available to it throughout the 2025-26 season, which, of course, Karnisovas and Eversley neglected to use in their relatively transaction-light summer.
Since the Bulls should tank, their reticence to bring in more veteran help can be appreciated through that lens, in theory — although I’m dubious that it’s deliberate, especially since they still have veterans like 35-year-old Nikola Vucevic and 27-year-old Kevin Huerter playing major minutes, and mid-career pieces like 25-year-old guards in Coby White, Dosunmu, and Tre Jones.
That said, using the DPE to audition a young-ish player, should someone become available, is worth considering. At 10-15, Chicago is likely bound for the lottery again, and whether they like it or not, this is probably at the start of a soft rebuild. The key to this working is taking as many swings as possible, and ideally landing on some diamonds in the rough.
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