Essengue spent the last year in Germany as he seeks the NBA path.
The road to the NBA through the international scene is a road less travelled than the conventional NCAA route, and within the international road itself there are typically more travelled roads to make it to the NBA.
The most prominent leagues prospects tend to progress from include the French league, the Spanish league, the Adriatic League, and the Australian NBL — these leagues typically house many NBA prospects. Italy and Germany are two leagues where there is a significant drop off in prospects drafted to the NBA. The last two players drafted from the Italian league (Gabriele Procida and Matteo Spagnolo) were drafted in 2022 and never played an NBA game.
Germany, meanwhile, has a bit more recent success in the draft, with two players from the Bundesliga drafted in the 2024 NBA Draft: Pacome Dadiet and Juan Nunez. Prior to that, Killian Hayes has been the last, and most notable, recent draftee from the Bundesliga when he was selected seventh overall back in 2020. All of these players were drafted from the same team which we’ll be examining today: Ratiopharm Ulm.
Once again in 2025, Ulm have two prospects who are projected to be drafted: Ben Saraf and Noa Essengue. Today we’re looking at Noa Essengue, an 18 year old French forward standing at 6-foot-9 inches tall. Essengue played 50 games across all competitions last season — including the EuroCup — and averaged 10.9 points per game on 51.7% shooting from the field on 6.5 field goal attempts per game, 26.4% from three on 2.1 attempts, 71.6% from the free throw line on five attempts, 4.8 rebounds, 1.4 offensive rebounds, 1.1 assists, and one steal in 23 minutes per game.
If you’re new to Peachtree Hoops, these scouting reports will take a deep dive into prospects by extensively evaluating film — split into three sections: scoring, passing/playmaking, and defense — before coming to a general conclusion. Then, we look at what draft experts/outlets have reported as to not influence my own view of the prospect during the evaluation before finally looking at where the prospect is mocked and having a chat afterwards.
Let’s dive into the film. Essengue wears the number 12, and, for the purposes of helping identifying, typically has a leg sleeve on one leg.
Offense/scoring
Looking at the scoring numbers, despite not shooting well from three (26.4% on 2.1 attempts) Essengue shoots an efficient 51.7% from the field and averaged 10.9 points on just six shot attempts per game. The main avenues Essengue scores his points are with his off-ball movement, free throws, and offensive rebounds.
We’ll examine these first, starting with Essengue’s off-ball movement which opens up easy avenues for scoring.
Here, Essengue sneaks in behind the defense, receives the ball underneath the rim and scores with his left hand:
From the corner this time, with the pressure on the ball, Essengue cuts, receives the ball, and finishes at the rim with the dunk:
On this play, Essengue is involved in the screen up top, and then cuts in behind the napping Furkan Korkmaz, receives the ball, and finishes with authority at the rim, showcasing Essengue’s athleticism:
Again in the screening action, Essengue slips the screen, rolls to the rim, receives the ball, and dunks:
Let’s look at more of Essengue on the move, specifically as he gets to the free throw line/draws fouls.
On the baseline, Essengue receives the ball and as he tries to slip by on the drive the blocking foul is committed:
On this play, as the defense extends the pressure, Essengue receives the ball and attacks the rim, finishing at the rim plus the foul:
Here, Essengue splits the defense on the drive and is fouled:
Off of a turnover, Essengue pushes in transition and commits a foul on the drive:
These free throws help boost Essengue’s efficiency and production despite averaging six shots a game. Another strength of Essengue’s is that he can turn inefficiency, i.e., a missed shot, into efficiency by way of his rebounding and second chance scoring, averaging 1.4 offensive rebounds per game.
On this play, Essengue has to reach to grab this shot-turned-interior pass from his teammate, and while Essengue misses the first shot he taps in the second effort:
Again, you can see Essengue’s movement and he places himself in the dunker’s spot, and is in good position to tap in the offensive rebound:
Off of a miss and a tap, Essengue’s long arms control the offensive rebound and he’s fouled on a shot attempt:
Again, Essengue thinks quick off of an offensive rebound to get the shot up, where he’s fouled and heads to the line for more free throws:
Additionally, Essengue’s athleticism in Germany helped him be a lob threat at times, and he often likes to linger around that dunker’s spot:
These facets of Essengue’s offensive game — offensive rebounding, free throws, and off ball movement — are the core of Essengue’s offensive game right now. That is what he’s best at right now in what is quite a limited offensive repertoire.
There are flashes of a more rounded offensive game, including three-point shooting:
And perhaps a face-up/off-the-bounce game, with this play from the post turning into a face-up jumper:
However, there’s a general lack of polish offensively for Essengue, especially off the dribble with the ball and shooting the three.
Shooting 26% from three, and the manner of some of these misses, suggests that there is a lot of work to do:
When it comes to working off the dribble, whether it’s leading to a jumpshot, a foul, or an attempt inside, again, there’s quite a bit of rounding out to do.
On the slip in between the zone, Essengue is not in full control and unable to guide the shot home:
On the drive from the perimeter, Essengue misjudges just how much time and space he has, and rushes the shot in the lane when the defense had resigned itself to conceding an easy basket at the rim:
Off the dribble from the perimeter, Essengue gets to the free throw line area but his shot is clunky and misses:
This shot here might be the worst offense, as he slips past the first line of the zone he’s faced with the second line of defense, and Essengue decides to take a terrible, contested, turnaround jumper:
In transition, Essengue gets too ahead of himself on the drive and barrels into the defender for the charge turnover:
In the halfcourt, Essengue is called for the push off on the drive:
We’ll summarize Essengue’s offense in the conclusion, but for now let’s look at his passing/playmaking!
Passing/playmaking
We won’t spend a ton of time here at all because this is not an area of Essengue’s game that is particularly prominent right now, averaging one assist a game.
There is an occasional flash, like this outlet pass in transition for the assist:
But often plays like this, where entry passes or other passing attempts lead to turnovers, like this play where Essengue’s attempted pass to the cutter sails out of bounds:
The ball isn’t obviously in Essengue’s hands a lot to begin with, and he’s not a pass first player, nor does he have the real means to create off the dribble for others. This limitation in his game and lack of elite passing skill/vision are limiting factors regarding Essengue’s NBA potential.
Defense
This hasn’t been the most glowing report of Noa Essengue thus far, but the defensive side of the ball offers a chance for Essengue to claw back some points. Sadly, however, it is a bit of a mixed bag defensively but let’s start with his strengths.
I was really impressed with Essengue’s rebounding. We looked at it on the offensive end of the floor and how it can lead to second chance points, but he uses his size and length to snatch away defensive rebounds and secure possession for his team.
Off of a three-point miss, Essengue skies high to take the rebound away from the opposition and saves possession for his team with the hustle as he falls out of bounds:
On a contest for the rebound, it’s Essengue who is able to win with his length and secure possession:
Off of another missed three, Essengue’s lengths helps him tip the ball out of traffic in the air, and his team is able to use this to fuel a fastbreak opportunity:
Essengue’s length, in addition to some of his defensive instincts, can combine to utilize this length to create steals.
Here, Essengue — in the zone defense — anticipates the pass inside and rotates over and uses his length to secure the ball and generate the steal:
On this possession, Essengue turns defense into offense as he anticipates the pass, pounces upon it, and he dunks at the other end in transition:
On this possession, Essengue extends his full length to get his hands on this looping entry pass and comes up with an extremely impressive steal:
Again, Essengue is able to show anticipation and gets his hands in to knock the ball away for the steal, which is pounced upon and scored in transition:
This last clip I would call a ‘flex’ of sorts, as Essengue easily batters this entry pass away for the steal:
Essengue’s length is also useful for contesting shots, which he can do well, too.
On the corner three attempt, Essengue slides over and his length helps successfully contest this shot, which is missed:
Closer to the rim this possession, Essengue’s size and length help contest this shot at the rim, resulting in a miss:
Again at the rim, Essengue, behind the offensive player under the rim, makes the shot underneath a difficult one between his contest and physicality, and results in a miss:
However, Essengue can be a bit undisciplined at times and can commit some poorly timed fouls.
In transition, Essengue is left to fend off the challenge at the rim, but bites on the fake and commits the foul and free throws:
On the low-block, Essengue’s body positioning allows the offensive player to turn, outmuscle Essengue into the space to drive baseline, and Essengue commits the foul on the made basket:
Here, Essengue’s man gives him the slip, and Essengue, trailing the play, puts a forearm into the back of the offensive player to concede the foul and free throws:
Another potential issue defensively, and one that is a problem at Essengue’s size of 6 feet and 9 inches tall, is that he does not appear to be able to contain dribble penetration on switches:
In the NBA, ideally, teams are looking for players who can, at this size, be able to switch and guard defensively. If Essengue is beaten like this often, he’s limited defensively to where he can play and, in addition to a not-very-versatile offense already, there are extreme limitations going forward.
Summary
Alright, let’s try summarize this, or provide a TL;DR summary. In short, I worry for Noa Essengue as an NBA prospect.
Physically, Essengue shows strong flashes of athleticism and can be a lob threat/target, but his lateral speed/burst is a concern. He moves more like a power forward/center than a small forward/power forward hybrid, and that’s an issue at his size. He’s got good length and physical tools, and he’s very young — turning 19 in mid-December, so he projects to be one of the youngest prospects in the draft.
Offensively, he’s just so limited right now. His main source of scoring comes from offensive rebounding, off-ball movement, and free throws and I don’t see all of these translating to the NBA right now — with the exception of his off-ball movement. His work with the ball and off the dribble is limited right now. Occasionally he’ll get to the rim, but it’s a bit clunky right now, and a tendency to commit offensive fouls on drives can be problematic.
In terms of his shooting, it’s raw. As a three-point shooter, Essengue hasn’t developed a touch for it yet, nor has he developed a jumper coming off the dribble — inside or outside. For a 6-foot-9 forward in the NBA, that is the bare minimum. Overall, while the scoring is efficient, it’s quite limited and there’s not a lot of versatility in offense.
In terms of Essengue’s playmaking, it just isn’t really a feature in his game right now, and that’s a shame that this is missing from Essengue’s arsenal offensively because with his limitation in offensive versatility, the ability to pass and create consistently for teammates would benefit his use on the court.
Defensively, Ulm played a lot of zone, so the ability to gauge more of Essengue as a one-on-one defender is a bit more difficult but there are concerns about lateral quickness, especially on switches. Essengue can be a bit undisciplined defensively and commit fouls/make lapses, but this is to be expected at this stage of his career defensively. His length helps him contest shots and contest for rebounds, on which he does a very good job to help secure possession with his length. His length can also help generate some steals, and turn defense into offense.
As for an NBA fit, I just don’t know how Essengue would stay on the court on offense, how he could contribute offensively outside of offensive rebounding (which is likely to not be as effective in the NBA as it was in Germany), what position he would play, or who he would guard defensively…these are all problems in isolation, let alone in tandem.
Overall, Noa Essengue, I think, needs more time overseas to develop if he is drafted in order to round out and polish his offensive game, to try to become a more willing passer, to improve his three-point shooting, to become a more disciplined defender, and lock down the backline if he’s to continue to play a zone defense.
How do other outlets view Essengue?
Sam Vecenie of The Athletic mocks Essengue 14th overall in the draft, with this to add on Essengue:
Essengue is starting to turn things on in France, with multiple 20-point outings over the last month. The 6-9 forward is a terrific athlete who moves exceedingly well for his age. He’ll be the second-youngest player in this draft class behind Cooper Flagg and is averaging 12 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 0.8 blocks per game since Jan. 22.
The questions here are largely around his polish. The jumper is starting to fall, as he’s made 35 percent from 3 in that window, but there are real mechanical issues regarding his base and balance that teams think will take a lot of time to work through, despite his solid touch. Additionally, while his defensive playmaking numbers are strong and he’s shown improvement throughout the year, his overall impact on that end isn’t all that high. He gets beaten more often off the bounce than you’d expect for this level of athleticism, and his help instincts waver. Still, he’s a young player clearly coming along well regarding his development. Don’t expect Essengue to be a valuable player next year in the NBA, but he could develop in time to be one of the better players in this draft class if he lands with the right organization.
Reading this, I’m quite surprised the perception of Essengue is this high, because I absolutely agree that there are huge questions concerning his polish overall. It reads as though Essengue is mocked this highly based on his physical tools and his potential down the road, rather than what he can add right now.
Danny Chau of The Ringer mocks Essengue 24th overall, with this to add:
Essengue will have his zealots. At 18 years old, he is one of the youngest prospects in the class, only three days older than Cooper Flagg. He has the straight-line speed and overall range of motion of a wing but the standing reach of an NBA center. He is about 80 percent limbs, long levered with a high center of gravity. Unlike many projects of his ilk, Essengue has been extremely productive at the professional level, playing on one of the great incubators in the global web of professional basketball. First impressions count for a lot, and there were plenty of folks who caught their first glimpse of Essengue back in October of last year, during an NBA preseason game between Ratiopharm Ulm and the Portland Trail Blazers. It was an ideal showcase for Essengue, who scored 20 points (and hit three 3-pointers) and logged eight rebounds. He showed he belonged, and he hadn’t even turned 18 yet.
Just to chime in at this point, Chau is correct — and it’s something I sometimes underrate at times — when he highlights the productivity of Essengue to score at a professional level when he would’ve turned 18 during the season; it’s very tough to do, and there is something to be said for Essengue contributing double-digit scoring professionally at such an early stage and I appreciate that I didn’t give him that credit, so it’s fair to highlight.
Let’s continue:
But carving out a space in the NBA often requires finding a specialty. It’s not yet clear what that is for Essengue. He has a nose for the ball and a keen sense of when to flash into open space. He’s predictably excellent in transition. His length affords him uncommon angles as a defensive playmaker, and he can cover an immense distance just off two long strides, but he’s as prone to ball watching and zoning out as any teenager. He’s unselfish and often has the correct vision on his reads, but his passes sometimes lack touch or conviction. He shoots, just not very well at all. His rudimentary handle prevents him from being a more effective shot creator, and his frail figure and high center of gravity narrow his pathways to winning mismatches in the post.
Essengue’s high center of gravity has been noted here and it’s a consideration when it comes to his offense, especially off the dribble. As Chau notes, and I agree, Essengue’s passing lacks the touch required, and his limitations with his handle impact his ability to create more offense for himself with the ball.
Essengue’s most outlier skill at the professional level seems randomly assigned by the basketball gods. For a player lacking much in the way of functional play strength, Essengue invites contact and uses it to his advantage. He has proved to be a foul-drawing machine in the Bundesliga with his obscenely high free throw rate, roughly the same as Julius Randle’s in his lone season at Kentucky back in 2013-14. It made sense for Randle, who has always been a tank—even as a teenager, he was nearly 60 pounds heavier than the Frenchman. For Essengue, who weaponizes his speed in his collisions with the defense, getting to the line entails emulating the kind of rag doll physics popularized in PlayStation games of the early aughts.
None of this is particularly damning. Every concern about his game has a positive upshot in its range of outcomes. In the aggregate, Essengue’s profile could be seen as a huge green flag given his age. But his development will take a patient front office with a clear road map. Essengue certainly looks the part while also demonstrating enough of a framework of skills to leave teams daydreaming. For draftniks of a certain vintage, Essengue’s evaluation is its own kind of comfort food. He is an archetypal prototype.
Again, there’s a note made in terms of Essengue just needing time to develop his game, but perhaps more optimism is offered here than I did in my evaluation. To finish The Ringer’s report of Essengue, player comparisons made for Essengue include Darius Bazley, Tayshaun Prince, Bilal Coulibaly, and an old favorite — and a prospect we covered moons ago here — Isaac Bonga. None of those I really see fitting for Essengue pre-draft but I really enjoyed seeing Isaac Bonga pop up.
ESPN have listed Essengue 13th in their ‘Best Available’ ranking, mocking him 15th to the Thunder for reasons more so to do with the Thunder’s position than Essengue himself.
Fit with the Hawks
With where some of these draft outlets project Essengue to be drafted, it lines up in close proximity to where the Hawks are drafting with the 13th overall pick. However, the Hawks have had a number of draft misses in the last few years since 2022 (obviously not including Zaccharie Risacher): A.J. Griffin had potential but chose another path, Seth Lundy didn’t pan out, and Kobe Bufkin so far has not delivered in the NBA as he has struggled to stay healthy.
The Hawks could use a player who actually is able to contribute and help them, and I do not see Essengue as being that player who can deliver that for the Hawks — he’s too far away from contributing anything meaningful for a team who is trying to make the playoffs.