Bulls’ Noa Essengue to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery

The blows keep coming.

Bulls rookie Noa Essengue will undergo season-ending surgery on his left shoulder, coach Billy Donovan announced prior to their matchup with the Brooklyn Nets.

The team hasn’t yet provided a diagnosis, but Essengue injured his shoulder in a recent G League game. Donovan said he expects the timetable to be in the six-to-seven-month range, with him being in recovery for at least six weeks after the procedure.

“He’s been dealing with some shoulder stuff to begin with, and I think he ended up going up for a rebound, and his arm got jerked,” Donovan said. “He didn’t dislocate his shoulder, but he’s got some looseness and some movement in there that they need to kind of tighten up for him, or that’s going to probably continue to happen.”

This is a tough blow, not only for Essengue himself, but for the Bulls organization that can’t afford to miss on any lottery picks as they continue to shift their roster forward.

“Disappointed,” Donovan said. “I talked to him the other day. I think he had met with doctors and was trying to wrap his head around that, and then ultimately, him, his representation, our medical guys, just talking to different doctors and stuff, getting some second opinions and things like that, presented him the information,” Donovan said. “And I think the recommendation was to get it fixed now instead of waiting, because it’s something that could continue to be a problem for him.”

After some consideration and discussion with multiple doctors, Essengue elected to get this done now, as it was something that eventually would have to happen.

“He can go a period of time and be totally fine,” Donovan continued. “Or, it could end up happening at any time. The problem is, when it does happen, you’re probably dealing with a week to 10 days that he could be out, and this would be something he’d have to continue to deal with. So they figured it was better off to get it done now…but I think the thought by him was that, ‘the longer I wait, if inevitably I’m going to have to get this done, does it bleed into the summer? Does it bleed into next season?’ And the thought was, the sooner, the better.”

Donovan doesn’t anticipate this lasting into the offseason or next season, but it is certainly a blow to a rail-thin, 18-year-old’s development. Essengue hasn’t been able to break into the Bulls’ rotation at all this season, save for six total minutes. He needs a ton of work to improve his body to be able to withstand and manage the physical toll that is the 82-game NBA season. He has work to do in the film room and on the floor to be able to catch up to the pace of the game.

“Outside of the playing part of it,” Donovan said, “how can we make this the best year without him playing as we can? I’d like to try to get, quite honestly, Ayo, with him because I’d like for Ayo to talk to him a little bit about…where the struggles were, what was tough, what was hard, mentally. Just maybe to help him.”

The Bulls will develop a new plan to work with him as he rehabs and try to avoid this being a lost year. But no doubt, this is a tough blow for Essengue’s development and the Bulls’ future outlook.

“I think a young player, when you’re taking away playing that’s never great, so we just got to probably figure out what we can do to help with his body, footwork, the things that we have talked about, really, since he’s been here,” Donovan said.

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