THE CHICAGO Bulls continued the building of their roster for the next generation at the 2025 NBA Draft, an event that was hosted in their city, and made a pair of exciting additions to the team for the coming years.

The Bulls had just two selections heading into the 2025 intake, and even traded back on night two in a deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. However, Chicago left the draft with two exciting pieces for the future, including a name that will be very familiar for Australian basketball fans.

Now looking to the future, the Bulls absolutely have their core in place, and although they may take another year or two before they are in playoff contention, they now have players to build around for the next decade.

Chicago Bulls

Drafted Players

Noa Essengue (pick 12), Lachlan Olbrich (pick 55)

The Bulls looked to improve their frontcourt stocks in the 2025 NBA Draft, and did exactly that with a pair of versatile forward options who certainly have the capability to develop into impactful players in the near future.

Firstly, the Bulls had a choice to make at pick 12, with plenty of viable prospects still on the board in a deep draft class. They settled on Essengue with their first selection, with the Frenchman having shown plenty against quality opposition overseas heading into the draft.

At seven-foot-one, he has plenty of tools that will help him become damaging at NBA level, mainly on the defensive end. He uses his wingspan to protect the paint at a consistent rate, while his speed does allow him to switch out onto the perimeter if needed.

Offensively, he thrives in the open court and can slash to the rim and finish at the cup consistently. This makes him an ideal fit in Chicago, given how much the team likes to play in transition and the passing power of Joshua Giddey should unlock more in his game.

The Bulls used their remaining pick on the second night, making a trade with the Lakers to move back from pick 45 to pick 55. With the fourth last selection of the draft, the Bulls picked up Olbrich, who was one of the biggest bolters of the draft class.

The Aussie forward has been playing with the Illawarra Hawks in the NBL over the past couple of seasons, and was invited to the G League Combine after not receiving a call up to the NBA testing. Olbrich blitzed the G League testing and earned his spot at the NBA Combine after proving dominant in scrimmage play.

At six-foot-10 he brings plenty of height to the frontcourt and can be a serious presence scoring inside the paint. Although he may need some time to develop either overseas or in the G League, Olbrich can be a useful player for the Bulls in the future.

It was a successful draft overall for the Bulls, who added some bigger bodies to the roster and now have a clear core group of players to lead the team back into the playoffs in the coming years.