The 2025 NBA Draft has its fair share of talented international prospects. This year, the German Ratiopharm Ulm has two notable NBA Draft prospects in Ben Saraf, a crafty ball-handling guard, and Noa Essengue. For Essengue, his main draw as a prospect is his combination of size, athleticism, and physical tools that lead many to believe that Essengue has major upside as a two-way forward. While he is young and raw as a player, Essengue has shown incredible flashes that many teams would be interested in developing. Let’s analyze Essengue’s skills in this 2025 NBA Draft profile.
Noa Essengue 2025 NBA Draft Profile
International Career
Essengue started his professional career in France, playing basketball at various levels. He also represented France at the 2024 FIBA U18 EuroBasket. This past year, Essengue signed on with Ratiopharm Ulm, a German team in the Basketball Bundesliga. Specifically, he has played with both the junior team and the main team, earning more minutes as the season has gone on. On the season, Essengue averaged 12.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 1.4 steals in 23.7 minutes per game. Unquestionably, his level of play has increased throughout the season and has provided the team with quality play in the playoffs so far.
Strengths
For Essengue, the best attributes of his as a player are his size, athleticism, and physical tools. Those aspects allow Essengue to make incredible plays on both ends of the floor and give him a high ceiling in terms of his potential. Offensively, Essengue is at his most dangerous in transition, giving him the space to fully utilize his fluidity and athleticism.
Scoring-wise, he does most of his work at the rim, both on and off the ball. He is aggressive when getting into the paint and will attack closeouts when given the chance. Plus, he invites contact when driving, getting to the line semi-regularly despite his lack of strength. Off the ball, Essengue has a nose for cutting, knowing exactly when to cut into space for open looks. Not only that, but he can operate in the short roll, either scoring the ball himself or being a connective passer in the middle. Furthermore, Essengue has demonstrated solid passing instincts in transition. While he still needs to develop as a shooter, he has shown flashes of becoming a threat from the mid-range and three.
Defensively, Essengue has the tools he needs to be a versatile defensive piece who can guard multiple positions. Of course, he will need to bulk up, but his size and length give him the ability to guard forwards. Additionally, Essengue has the quickness to keep up with quicker guards, demonstrating the ability to be a switchable defender. Essengue’s off-ball defense is extremely promising, as he is good at rotating behind plays to offer defensive help at the rim. He has proven to be a great defensive playmaker, utilizing his length to block shots or disrupt passing lanes. Most importantly, Essengue has consistently shown that he plays with a high motor.
Weaknesses
Undoubtedly, the major downside of Essengue is that he is extremely raw as a prospect. In particular, his offensive game is unpolished and very simple, generally relying on others to create offense for him. While he has shown flashes of being a shooter, he still has a long way to go before being a real threat from beyond the arc. Furthermore, Essengue has questionable decision-making and unpolished passing as well.
Defensively, Essengue struggles to deal with physicality as he lacks strength in his frame. He will need to bulk up to handle the physicality at the next level. Not only that, but Essengue does have defensive lapses where he will lose track of his man off-ball or be unprepared when his man attacks a closeout. He will need to be more attentive on defense to fully realize his defensive potential.
NBA Comparison
One player that Essengue shares similarities with is Nuggets forward Peyton Watson. In particular, the two forwards possess excellent athleticism and physical tools that lend themselves well on the defensive end. Offensively, both operate best as play-finishers who present a major threat to defenses in transition. Plus, their athleticism allows them to be explosive finishers at the rim, throwing down highlight dunks. Essengue is taller than Watson, but their skills, athleticism, and overall play style bear a resemblance to one another.
2025 NBA Draft Projection
Featured image: © David Banks-Imagn Images
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